Intentional Prioritization

I've been having lots of conversations about priority setting lately. Maybe it's because summer kicked in and the kids are home. Time feels even more precious when it's divided between work and "Mom, can you help me find my other croc?" (which, by the way, was stolen by our friendly neighborhood fox).

Anyway, I started making a mental collection of those old sayings that somehow nail exactly what we all struggle with at some point:

- "Pick your battles" acknowledges something I wish I'd understood earlier: our energy isn't infinite.
- "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" perfectly captures how urgency hijacks importance.
- "You can't boil the ocean" reminds us that we can't tackle everything at once.
- "Don't put lipstick on a pig" hits when I catch myself spending energy trying to improve something that's fundamentally flawed instead of addressing the core issue.

Here's what connects all these insights: effective prioritization isn't necessarily about reacting to what's demanding our attention in the moment. It's about stepping back, assessing impact, and making intentional choices about our most valuable resource: our time and focus (which happens to be one of my core values for 2025!).

And a big shout-out to Brooke Petrillo for giving me a new phrase to add to my collection: "It's not the gator closest to the boat."

Do you have any favorite sayings that capture prioritization wisdom?