Use the ‘MIT Method’ to Keep Your Big-Picture Goals in Mind During Everyday Tasks

Many productivity methods ask you to prioritize your daily tasks by considering how much time or effort they will require, then tackle the resource-intensive ones first. For some people, this is a solid strategy because you can definitely find some motivation by letting go of your most difficult and demanding responsibilities. There’s even a weird name for doing this: “eating the frog.” But you can also find motivation by working toward a bigger goal, so what if you prioritized your tasks based on their importance and impact, no matter their size?

This is what the Most Important Tasks (MIT) method involves: rather than thinking about specific tasks and how long they will take, the MIT method asks you to look more broadly at the overall goal you’re trying to accomplish. Reframing your approach to productivity by focusing instead on your purpose can motivate you to do more and achieve better results.

How to use the MIT method

First, you will need to define your goals. You can set SMART goals or combine the MIT method with the Results Planning Method (RPM), which asks you to consider your goal when planning your day. Take the time to write down your goals, the biggest ones, the ones towards which all your daily tasks are supposed to lead you. Think about weekly, monthly, and yearly goals, as well as ongoing and long-term goals. Write them down or just keep them in mind, but always think of the bigger, bigger picture. A simple example is school: you study not just to pass the test, but because your overall goal is to graduate, do so with a solid GPA, and get a quality job offer. Taking the time to reaffirm this larger goal reframes how you think about studying for a boring old test.

Every morning, make a list of two or three most important tasks for the day. These are critical tasks that will impact your goals, but they don’t have to be huge or resource-draining. If responding to a prospect’s emails gets you toward a monthly sales goal, that’s more of an MIT goal than creating a presentation for your boss, even if creating the presentation seems like the more demanding large-scale project. Consider the results of your tasks and prioritize those that are quick or meaningful. You want to focus on the two or three tasks that will really make a difference in helping you achieve your goal.

Take care of these two or three tasks first, then handle other, less important tasks on your to-do list for the rest of the day. You can use a planning technique like the 1-3-5 list or the pickle jar method to figure out what they are and how much time and energy you will have for them. When using the MIT technique, you should also use a productivity journal to write down your daily tasks in the morning and your thoughts on how everything went at night. If you’re unfamiliar, learn how to do an after-action review so you have some structure to follow while thinking and can effectively build on the takeaways you find. This nightly reflection is essential: you must be able to identify and see the impact of completing these critical tasks on your progress towards your goal, as well as what you did well and what you could do better as you continue to strive. This will keep you motivated and moving forward.