Manage time, set priorities, and keep your work on track — so deadlines don't sneak up on you and nothing important falls through the cracks.
Opening Scenario
It's Tuesday at 10:00 AM. Your supervisor stops by before heading into a meeting and drops three tasks on your desk:
Update the inventory spreadsheet with last week's numbers and email it to the warehouse team. Due today by 3:00 PM.
Go through the general inquiry inbox and respond to any emails that came in this week. No hard deadline — your supervisor just wants it cleared "sometime this week."
Print and organize handouts for tomorrow's 9:00 AM all-staff meeting. Your supervisor needs them ready first thing in the morning.
You have five hours before you leave today. You can't do all three at the same depth at the same time. Where do you start — and how do you think through it?
The Framework
What has a hard deadline today?
If you miss this, someone else is blocked or the work becomes useless. This goes first — always.
What is someone else waiting on?
Even with no stated deadline, if your delay causes a ripple — a meeting that falls apart, a team that can't start — that task moves up.
What can flex without consequence?
This isn't "ignore it." It's "this has room to breathe." Do it last, do it well — but don't let it crowd out what's urgent.
Why not just do the easiest thing first?
It feels productive to knock off quick wins — but if a hard deadline task is sitting untouched while you clear easy tasks, you're building stress, not managing it. Professionals plan around deadlines and dependencies, not personal comfort.
82%
of managers say new workers struggle most with prioritization — not the actual tasks
#2
skill gap ranked by employers after communication — time management and organization
3×
more likely to be trusted with bigger responsibilities when you consistently meet deadlines
Activity 1 of 2
Back to the scenario. Your supervisor left you Tasks A, B, and C. You have five hours. Apply the three-question framework — what's your order?
How do you order your work for the day?
Activity 2 of 2
Good planning isn’t reactive — it’s something you do before the day hits you. Walk through what a well-organized first Monday at your placement could look like.
Draft a rough daily plan for your first Monday at your placement site.
Think through: What time do you arrive? What do you do in the first 30 minutes? When do you check in with your supervisor? What will you need to track or remember? How do you know if the day went well?
Prompts to guide you:
Your first Monday plan
Assessment
Developing
Tasks are completed in whatever order they come, without considering deadlines or dependencies. Frequently misses deadlines or forgets deliverables. Little or no advance planning evident.
Approaching
Shows awareness of deadlines and sometimes prioritizes accordingly, but inconsistently. May miss lower-priority tasks or get thrown off by interruptions. Planning is reactive rather than proactive.
Meeting
Consistently prioritizes deadline-driven tasks first, communicates when workload is unclear, and completes assigned work on time. Uses a basic system (written list, calendar, notes) to track responsibilities.
Exceeding
Plans ahead for upcoming deadlines before being prompted. Proactively asks for priorities when multiple tasks are assigned. Flags potential conflicts early. Tracks progress in a way others can see and depend on.
Complete This Module
Answer the reflection question below, then submit to log your completion in Google Sheets.
Describe a time — at school, in an activity, or in a job — when you had more to do than time allowed. What did you do first, and why? Looking back, would you prioritize differently now?
A Google Form will open in a new tab. Your name, module, and reflection will be pre-filled — confirm submission there.