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Leitura de 15 min

Prioritization is the Ultimate Skill

Summary

The episode frames prioritization not as a mundane task-management chore, but as the fundamental activity for navigating life and career. It begins by connecting the common desire for clarity—knowing what to do, which skills to learn, or which job to take—with the deeper needs for perspective and purpose. True clarity, the host argues, must be viewed through the lens of one’s personal perspective and purpose, otherwise, clear answers can be meaningless if they don’t align with what you care about.

Prioritization is presented as the mechanism that answers the core question, “What should I do next?” While engineers often delegate backlog prioritization to product managers, the host emphasizes that we are constantly prioritizing in all aspects of life. This includes personal decisions, competing demands at work, and even the choice to rest when fatigued. The act of prioritization is reframed from a monolithic task to an integrated, ongoing process of evaluation.

The discussion delves into the practical application of this idea, suggesting we replace the simple question “What should I do next?” with more purposeful variants: “What should I do next in order to…?”, “What should I do next in light of…?”, or “What should I do next if I want…?“. This shifts the focus to the underlying criteria for our decisions, whether it’s serving users, maintaining mental health, nurturing relationships, or pursuing excitement.

The host shares a personal anecdote about a conversation with his wife, a product leader, who pointed out the fatigue that comes from constant prioritization. His response illustrates the holistic nature of the concept: when exhausted, the highest priority might simply be to rest. This underscores that effective prioritization must account for human limitations and well-being, not just productivity metrics.

Finally, the episode warns against defaulting to poor prioritization schemes, such as responding to the loudest voice or the most immediate pressure, which often leads to unproductive paths. The charge to the listener is to consciously evaluate decisions through this purposeful lens, using the “in light of” or “in order to” framework to create genuine clarity and move forward with intention, reducing anxiety and bringing a more human, integrated approach to both work and life.

Topic Timeline

  • 00:00:00 — Introduction to clarity, perspective, and purpose — The host introduces the show’s core themes and states the intention to discuss the critical interchange between clarity, perspective, and purpose. He reveals that the single most critical activity to engage in is prioritization, setting the stage for the episode’s central argument.
  • 00:01:32 — Defining the desire for clarity in action — The host elaborates on what listeners typically seek when they desire clarity: answers about what to do in their careers. This includes decisions about skills, jobs, people to work with, and communications with bosses and peers. He emphasizes that clarity alone is insufficient without being filtered through perspective and purpose.
  • 00:03:24 — Prioritization as the key to purposeful clarity — The host explicitly connects prioritization to the quest for clarity guided by perspective and purpose. He argues that prioritization answers the question “What should I do?” based on critical factors we care about. He begins to stretch the definitions of perspective and purpose to encompass the various reasons behind our decisions.
  • 00:04:38 — Beyond delegated backlog prioritization — The discussion challenges the view of prioritization as a monolithic task owned solely by product managers. While acknowledging typical backlog prioritization, the host stresses that engineers constantly prioritize in their personal and professional lives, often facing the same fundamental “What should I do?” questions that seek clarity.
  • 00:06:55 — Reframing the prioritization question with purpose — The host refines the core question from “What should I do next?” to more purposeful variants like “What should I do next in order to…?”, “in light of…?”, or “if I want…?“. He suggests asking these questions constantly to ground decisions in specific criteria and optimization goals, moving beyond reactive or pressure-driven choices.
  • 00:07:26 — Addressing prioritization fatigue and human limits — The host shares a conversation with his wife, a product leader, who expressed getting tired of constant prioritization. He uses this to illustrate that the highest priority can sometimes be rest. This example integrates well-being into the prioritization framework, showing it must account for mental state and human limitations, not just external productivity demands.
  • 00:09:34 — Developing a holistic life prioritization strategy — The host urges listeners to think beyond daily task prioritization to develop a life strategy. He encourages considering what’s important for happiness and purpose, noting that prioritizing for users is just one small part. Decisions should factor in mental state, excitement, relationships, and other human elements to create true clarity.
  • 00:11:44 — Avoiding poor, reactive prioritization schemes — The host warns against defaulting to haphazard prioritization based on who is louder or what avoids immediate pain. He argues these schemes are usually unproductive for the individual, merely serving the person making the demand. The episode charges listeners to consciously use a purpose-based framework to make better decisions.
  • 00:13:30 — Conclusion and encouragement — The host concludes by hoping the episode provides encouragement, a sense of lightness, and permission to view tasks with less anxiety. He reiterates the goal of helping listeners find holistic prioritization, purpose, clarity, and perspective, signing off with the show’s signature farewell.

Episode Info

  • Podcast: Developer Tea
  • Author: Jonathan Cutrell
  • Category: Technology Business Careers Society & Culture
  • Published: 2024-10-04T07:00:00Z
  • Duration: 00:14:11

References

Podcast Info

Transcript

[00:00:00] This show is about finding clarity, perspective, and purpose.

[00:00:18] And I want to focus on an interchange between these today.

[00:00:27] And I want to talk about what I believe to be

[00:00:32] kind of the most critical singular activity that you can engage in.

[00:00:39] And this is for engineers, but it’s also for most other career paths, most other life paths.

[00:00:50] We’re going to talk about it in the specific context of an engineer today.

[00:00:54] But I want to talk about this interchange between clarity, perspective, and purpose,

[00:01:00] specifically because in today’s episode, I want to give you this, this single activity.

[00:01:09] We won’t bury the lead here.

[00:01:10] The single activity is prioritization.

[00:01:15] So what do I mean when I talk about the interchange between clarity, perspective,

[00:01:21] between clarity, perspective, and purpose?

[00:01:24] When we talk about clarity, most of the time, if you’re listening to this podcast,

[00:01:32] your implicit kind of fill in the blank here.

[00:01:37] When we say clarity is clarity in action, or in other words, clarity about what to do.

[00:01:46] What decisions should I make? What skills should I acquire? What job should I take?

[00:01:54] What people should I work with? What should I tell my boss?

[00:01:58] What should I tell my report? What should I tell my peer?

[00:02:02] How should I approach my career?

[00:02:04] How should I approach all of these decisions that I need to make in my career?

[00:02:08] All of this is material.

[00:02:15] All of these are opportunities where clarity is desired.

[00:02:22] You’re seeking clarity about these questions.

[00:02:27] And the clarity that you’re seeking is not just any answer.

[00:02:30] Of course, you could have a clear answer.

[00:02:32] You could have a clear answer that has no basis in anything that you care about.

[00:02:42] So I could give you a clear answer that says, well, just go learn JavaScript.

[00:02:47] Go tell that coworker that you’d like to help them.

[00:02:53] Go interview for that job, interview for that role.

[00:02:56] I could tell you all of these things, and they would be clear, right?

[00:03:02] They would provide clarity, but we’re not just seeking clarity.

[00:03:06] We’re seeking perspective and purpose.

[00:03:09] We’re seeking perspective and purpose,

[00:03:11] and we want our clarity to be through the lens of perspective and purpose.

[00:03:16] What should I do based on my perspective and my purpose?

[00:03:24] And this is why I’m telling you that prioritization

[00:03:32] is the key critical activity that you can engage in.

[00:03:37] Because it answers this question.

[00:03:40] What should I do?

[00:03:42] What should I do based on some critical factor that I care about?

[00:03:49] My perspective and my purpose.

[00:03:52] Now, I’m kind of stretching perspective and purpose here a little bit

[00:03:57] because you don’t necessarily need purpose to decide

[00:04:01] for example, which task to pick up first on your list of tasks to do today.

[00:04:08] But in the meta picture, what we’re really saying is there are multiple reasons.

[00:04:16] We’re going to fill in the blank here or kind of use reason for kind of a substitute for purpose.

[00:04:24] So clarity in order to do what?

[00:04:27] Clarity in order to accomplish what?

[00:04:31] This is really what prioritization is about.

[00:04:33] Now, very often we imagine that prioritization is kind of this monolithic task.

[00:04:38] And also, that we as engineers are relatively involved in that prioritization process.

[00:04:46] This is something that we relegate over to, let’s say, a product manager.

[00:04:51] But very often, our input is critical for prioritization.

[00:04:56] So understanding level of effort.

[00:04:58] And of course, we’re talking right now about, you know, the typical kind of backlog prioritization

[00:05:03] that you might participate in.

[00:05:06] And so when you’re looking at a backlog, you’re trying to decide what should we do first?

[00:05:10] What should we do next?

[00:05:12] And this monolithic task is somewhat unclear.

[00:05:18] And we seek clarity of priority because it enables us to move quickly.

[00:05:24] We don’t have to ask the question, what should I pick up?

[00:05:30] In a perfect world, an engineer generally appreciates having that answer already made for them.

[00:05:39] So you pick up whatever’s at the top of the backlog that you are capable of doing.

[00:05:44] And so prioritization then is delegated.

[00:05:49] It’s given to someone else to decide what to do.

[00:05:52] But the truth is, we are constantly prioritizing.

[00:05:55] Some parts of prioritization you may be giving over to someone else.

[00:06:00] But there are often things that you have to prioritize, whether you like it or not.

[00:06:05] And these prioritization questions come in the same form as those clarity questions.

[00:06:12] What should I do?

[00:06:13] What should I do?

[00:06:16] The prioritization question is about what should I do based on the fact

[00:06:23] that I only have a certain amount of time, or rather that my life is organized

[00:06:29] in some sequential fashion.

[00:06:31] What should I do next is the clarity question that is driving prioritization activities.

[00:06:39] Now, this should seem obvious to you, of course.

[00:06:42] Of course, what should I do next is the question that we’re asking

[00:06:46] when we are determining prioritization.

[00:06:47] But remember that the answer is dependent on perspective and purpose.

[00:06:55] Why should I do this thing next?

[00:06:59] So the question that you should be asking yourself is not, what should I do?

[00:07:03] It’s not, what should I do next?

[00:07:04] It’s, what should I do next in order to?

[00:07:10] What should I do next in light of?

[00:07:14] What should I do next if I want?

[00:07:17] These are all the kinds of questions that you should be asking yourself

[00:07:21] quite literally, constantly.

[00:07:24] Now, this may sound exhausting.

[00:07:26] I actually had a discussion with my wife about the idea for this episode,

[00:07:30] and she works as a product leader in an organization.

[00:07:36] And I told her that I believe that there is one singular activity

[00:07:41] that if we all were able to master it,

[00:07:43] we would have a lot more successful endeavors

[00:07:47] than those who don’t master it than I said is prioritization.

[00:07:51] And she immediately answered that at some point I get tired.

[00:07:55] I get tired of prioritizing.

[00:07:57] I eventually run out of brain power.

[00:08:01] I get some kind of fatigue, whether that’s decision fatigue or just human limitations.

[00:08:09] At which point I said, well, in this case,

[00:08:13] the highest priority thing that you can do might just be resting.

[00:08:19] If we think about choices that we make,

[00:08:22] we can consider all of the choices that we make

[00:08:27] to go through some kind of series of prioritization algorithms in our head.

[00:08:33] Now, we don’t necessarily have to be cerebral

[00:08:36] about every single prioritization decision we make.

[00:08:39] I don’t think you have to consider

[00:08:42] how does this one line of code affect my career in the long run.

[00:08:47] That seems a little bit too heavy-handed,

[00:08:50] and perhaps debilitating.

[00:08:53] Instead, having a clear purpose in a given moment

[00:08:58] and accepting that purpose for the clarity it provides.

[00:09:05] So in my wife’s case, the most important thing she could do

[00:09:10] in the moment when she was tired is to sit down and rest,

[00:09:14] to stop thinking about what the most important thing is to do.

[00:09:18] And instead, to do the most important thing in that case,

[00:09:22] which was maybe to just stare out the window at a tree.

[00:09:28] And this kind of integrated prioritization

[00:09:31] is where I really want you to move.

[00:09:34] If you’re listening to this episode,

[00:09:36] I want you to think about not just

[00:09:39] what is the most important task I can complete today,

[00:09:42] but what is my prioritization strategy for my life?

[00:09:49] What things are important to me at a purpose level,

[00:09:54] but also in order to be happy?

[00:09:59] This idea that we can always prioritize

[00:10:01] in order to serve the interests of our users,

[00:10:06] that is only one small part of the prioritization

[00:10:09] that matters at an atomic level for your decision making.

[00:10:16] You have to decide based on a lot of other factors too.

[00:10:22] And so when you think about

[00:10:24] what is the most important thing for me to do right now,

[00:10:27] what is the most important thing in light of?

[00:10:30] One of the things you might take into consideration

[00:10:33] is in light of my current mental state.

[00:10:37] What is the most important thing I can do

[00:10:38] in light of the excitement that I feel

[00:10:41] about this particular direction?

[00:10:44] What is the most important thing that I can do

[00:10:46] in light of the fact that I haven’t seen that friend

[00:10:50] in eight years and they’re coming through town.

[00:10:53] They’re only going to be here for two days.

[00:10:55] I have a big project that’s due, but what can I do?

[00:11:00] I can use this purpose-based prioritization strategy

[00:11:06] prioritization scheme to create clarity for my life.

[00:11:11] Very often you will hear me say something like this on the show

[00:11:14] and I risk sounding like the guy that’s telling you to slack off

[00:11:19] or to otherwise try to bring a little more humanity into your work.

[00:11:24] And while I do think that’s an important aspect of this show

[00:11:28] that I remind you that you’re human

[00:11:30] and not every decision you make

[00:11:32] is going to be calculated and cold and perfect,

[00:11:35] I also want you to understand that this works regardless

[00:11:40] of the prioritization scheme that you’re using.

[00:11:44] And so when you’re thinking about what am I optimizing for in this moment

[00:11:48] the answer very well may be that you have two competing priorities at work

[00:11:55] and you need to consolidate those.

[00:11:58] I very often have faced this struggle in my role.

[00:12:03] Over the years I may have one person who wants something

[00:12:06] and another person who wants another thing

[00:12:08] and I have to think about prioritizing between those.

[00:12:12] Too often we just ignore that

[00:12:14] and we only use this haphazard prioritization process of

[00:12:18] which thing do I feel more pressured to do?

[00:12:21] Who is louder right now?

[00:12:23] How can I avoid the pain of somebody knocking on my door every 30 minutes?

[00:12:29] These prioritization schemes are a poor decision most of the time

[00:12:34] because they usually are going to lead us down a path

[00:12:38] that isn’t really productive for us.

[00:12:40] It’s actually just productive for the other person

[00:12:43] that’s asking us for something.

[00:12:46] So my charge to you is as you go through your day today

[00:12:51] if you evaluate the problems that you faced recently even

[00:12:55] to think about it in the lens of what should I do next because of?

[00:13:04] What should I do next in light of?

[00:13:07] What should I do next in order to?

[00:13:11] And filling in the blank for the in light of or for in order to.

[00:13:17] Filling in these blanks for what you’re trying to optimize for

[00:13:22] will very often provide you the criteria you need

[00:13:25] to make the decision of what you should do next.

[00:13:30] Thanks so much for listening to today’s episode of Developer Tea.

[00:13:33] I hope this was an encouraging episode.

[00:13:35] I hope that you feel a sense of lightness

[00:13:38] and perhaps the permission to think about your tasks

[00:13:44] with a little less concern or anxiety

[00:13:49] and instead a little more holistic prioritization,

[00:13:53] purpose, clarity, perspective.

[00:13:56] All of these things we try to help you find on the show.

[00:14:00] Thanks so much for listening and until next time, enjoy your tea.

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