Sometimes we have more tasks on our to-do lists than we have time or resources in which to do them. Perhaps most of the time. How to prioritize? A common (yet erroneous) approach is to prioritize by due date. Start with what’s due first, continue with the task that is due right after the first one, and so on.

If you know Getting Things Done, you’re familiar with the Four Criteria Model for choosing tasks. It’s where the rubber meets the road in GTD, because it’s the way you decide, in the moment, how those tasks get done.

As common sense as it seems to GTD’ers, this model is one of the more controversial aspects of Getting Things Done for a simple reason: it posits that priority is not the only factor in deciding what to do at a given time. It’s just one of four factors:

Context – Where are you? What tools are available? What are the limits and possibilities unique to this moment?

Time Available – Do you have, for example, 30 seconds, 30 minutes, or 30 hours available to you right now? What tasks could you accomplish given the time you have?

Energy Available – Are you full of energy, are you dragging, or are you somewhere in between? Which of the tasks on your list could you finish, given that energy level?

Priority – If you had access to all the tools, opportunities, time, and energy you needed, what’s the most important or time-sensitive thing you could do right now?

Most of us have been conditioned to think that Priority trumps everything, all the time. But is it true, reasonable, or even physically possible to always work this way? Can you will yourself into doing only your identified high-priority items anytime, all the time?

Probably not, so maybe you ought to give this approach a try