How To Set Priorities

Every CEO I know struggles with the same paradox.

The more successful you become, the more everything feels urgent.

Hiring and training.
Board meetings.
Customer fires.
Team crises.
Investor updates.
Product launches.
Strategic initiatives.

All screaming for attention. All “top priority.”

The best don’t rely on gut instinct when the pressure hits.

They use frameworks.

Not because frameworks are magic.

But because under stress, your brain defaults to whatever is loudest.

Not what’s most important.

A framework forces you to think, not just react.

Take the Eisenhower Matrix. Simple 2×2 grid.

But it exposes a painful truth:

Most “urgent” tasks aren’t actually important.
They’re just noise dressed up as necessity.

Or the 80/20 rule. Brutal in its clarity.

Most of what fills your calendar contributes almost nothing to your goals.

The 40/70 rule?

It gives you permission to move when you have enough information, not perfect information.

Because waiting for certainty is a luxury leaders can’t afford.

Each framework serves a different moment:
– When choosing between good opportunities
– When speed matters more than perfection
– When the team can’t agree who decides
– When you’re drowning in daily tasks

The frameworks themselves aren’t the insight.

The insight is this:

In the heat of battle, you need pre-made decisions about how you’ll decide.

Because when everything feels urgent, nothing is.

And the leaders who understand that don’t just survive the chaos.

They cut through it.