In a book entitled The Art of Choosing, author Sheena Iyengar shares a six-step process for helping you decide between how you spend your time at work and/or school, summarized here.

1. Record all the different categories of tasks you face in a given week. Spend 10 minutes on this.

2. Now record all your responsibilities, tasks, and choices for a given week for 10 minutes. The more detail you can capture the better.

3. Review the list you generated in step 2. Which can you easily cut? Which things are redundant or unimportant? Cross out at least 50% of your list (or 75% if you are feeling ambitious).

4. For the remaining items on your list, imagine the challenge you face in doing this item. Imagine the potential outcome of doing it. Weigh whether or not this task is worth doing. Now cross out items that are more frustrating than rewarding. Do this until you have no more than 10 to 15 items remaining.

5. Consider which categories these surviving items belong to from the first step.

6. How much value do you personally bring to each category of tasks? What can you do that no one else will be able to do as well as you? Where should you try to condition yourself to choose the best options and where should you settle for satisficing? Go through your list one last time and try to cross out all but three to five of your top priorities.