How to Prioritize Tasks in a Startup

Rock, Paper(cuts), Both… Go! We've all seen this scenario: a promising product faltering due to countless minor issues (death by 1,000 paper cuts). But this creates a tricky dilemma for founding product teams. Do you allocate your limited resources to creating differentiated features, or fixing the numerous friction points your nascent product has? Unfortunately, there's no simple answer (unless GPT-5 can solve it for us, jk jk). The reality is that founding teams must invest in both areas. An unusable, differentiated product is as doomed as a flawless, undifferentiated one. At emdash, we’re tackling this dilemma head-on. Here are some tools we find helpful in prioritizing both significant features and minor fixes: 1) Get customer feedback early and often. 2) Establish a framework for distinguishing must-fix vs. nice-to-fix issues. 3) Stay focused on the big picture. ➝ First, customer feedback. Nothing reveals issues faster than watching a new customer struggle with your product. It’s easy for product teams to become desensitized to their own product, so regular fresh eyes are crucial for identifying blind spots. It can be eye-opening (and sometimes embarrassing) to explain to a new customer how to accomplish a core task. If you find yourself adding caveats or apologizing, you have work to do! For example, at emdash, we realized we needed better onboarding support after repeatedly struggling to explain the process to customers. This prompted us to prioritize improving onboarding and team management features. ➝ Second, establish a framework for distinguishing must-fix vs. nice-to-fix issues. This is actually more about enabling fast decision making than uncovering absolute truth. Create a framework that allows team members to make prioritization decisions independently. Avoid endless debates about minor issues. Instead, equip your team with a framework that fosters strong intuition for quick decisions. Aim for ~80% accuracy across the team, prioritizing speed. At emdash, our prioritization framework involves this decision tree: • Could this issue shatter customer confidence in the product? If yes, fix asap. • Could this issue induce customer churn? If yes, fix asap (assuming it’s the right kind of customer). • Could resolving this issue unlock a new priority use case? If yes, fix asap. • Otherwise, queue the issue for future review. Customer impact is always the key dimension for prioritization. → Third, eyes on the big picture. In the face of customer feedback and papercut prioritization frameworks, it can be easy to lose sight of the big rocks. Schedule regular team meetings to keep these rocks in focus. Write them down to make them more concrete. At emdash, we find a monthly cadence works well. And where do we publish and discuss our monthly goals? In emdash, of course! How does your team think about rocks vs papercuts?

I've managed 5 high-performing product marketing teams at startups and public companies, and there are 2 commonalities I've noticed at each: 1) it's easy for PMMs to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks on their plates, and 2) teams are rarely recognized for their true effort or impact by upper management. That's why I want to share my prioritization matrix 👇 It’s been a game-changer in how my teams approach projects and focus on what truly drives results. I’m curious—does this framework resonate with your approach to prioritizing tasks? Here's the concept: Rack up the wins by focusing on projects that offer high visibility and impact for lower effort and avoid those that drain your energy and don’t align with company goals. (Note: you could replace visibility with impact on this scale, but it's important that what you're working on is actually on the radar of those in upper management). Here’s how to prioritize: Quick Wins: These are the golden opportunities! High visibility, low difficulty — they bring great returns with minimal effort. Look for ways to get a few of these in your quarter. Strategic Initiatives: Aim for ONE strategic initiative per quarter. These are high-visibility, high-difficulty tasks that are aligned with your long-term goals. Go deep, plan ahead, and focus on the impact. You will be the most proud of these, but you need to be realistic about them. Routine Tasks: You’ve got to keep up with these, but don't let them consume too much of your time. Find a system to manage them efficiently. Avoid: Stay clear of high-difficulty, low-visibility tasks. These projects often don't yield the results you need, and they’re energy-draining. They don't align with your values or long-term success. 💡 Action Step: Review your current or upcoming projects. Classify them into high or low reward, and high or low effort. What projects are you spending too much time on that aren’t worth the effort? Time to realign and focus on what truly matters! #Productivity #TimeManagement #Prioritization #WorkSmart #StrategicFocus #CareerGrowth #Leadership How do you manage your / your team’s workload?

Most of us struggle to name our priorities. Did you know that many AI agency owners can't decide what to tackle first? This skill, known as prioritization, is crucial for better productivity and growth. Eisenhower Matrix It’s a tool that helps sort tasks by urgency and importance. It teaches us to focus on what truly matters, boosting our agency's output. Here are a few specific techniques you can use to improve your prioritization: 1. Urgent + Important: Do these tasks ASAP These tasks directly impact your bottom line and can't wait. Think of client deadlines, critical bug fixes, or securing that game-changing contract. Tackle these first. 2. Important, but not urgent: Schedule these tasks These tasks are crucial for your long-term success but don't have a pressing deadline. Think strategic planning, team training, or process optimization. Block out time for these in your calendar. 3. Urgent, but not important: Delegate these tasks These tasks need to get done quickly but don't require your personal attention. Think data entry, basic research, or routine admin work. Train your team to handle these or consider automating them. 4. Neither urgent nor important: Cut these tasks These are the true time-suckers. Think endless email scrolling, needless meetings, or low-value busy work. Eliminate these ruthlessly. Your time is your most precious resource. Implementing the Eisenhower Matrix revolutionized my agency's output. We cut our weekly meetings by 50%, automated 30% of our admin tasks, and saw a 25% jump in billable hours - all within a month. But don't just take my word for it. Grab a pen and try it yourself: List out all your current tasks Sort them into the four quadrants Take action: do, schedule, delegate, or delete Repeat weekly to keep your priorities razor-sharp The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple hack, but its impact can be profound. Give it a shot and watch your agency's productivity skyrocket. Remember: It's not about doing more things - it's about doing the right things. Prioritize ruthlessly and watch your agency soar.

Starting a new PMM role can feel like you're juggling a million tasks all at once. 🤯 So, how do you prioritize what to tackle first? Here’s where the Action Priority Matrix comes in. This simple 2x2 matrix helps you categorize tasks based on Impact and Effort, allowing you to quickly identify "Quick Wins" and strategically plan larger projects. Here’s how you can make it work for you: 1️⃣ List all your tasks for the week (or another time period you prefer). 2️⃣ Rate the impact: For each task, ask yourself how impactful it is on a scale of 0-10. Remember, impact is about how crucial it is to the company’s and team’s key goals. 3️⃣ Evaluate the effort: Then, score the effort required to complete each task. 3️⃣ Plot your tasks on a 2x2 matrix and group them into 4 categories: -----> Quick Wins: Focus here to build early wins and gain confidence. -----> Major Projects: Plan these strategically. Break them into smaller milestones and turn them into quick wins, or seek additional resources. -----> Fill-Ins: Tackle these when you have downtime, or reduce the scope if possible. ----->Thankless Tasks: Avoid these. Delegate or eliminate them! The image shows some sample PMM activities grouped by category - bear in mind these are just examples :) Once you have your priorities mapped out, turn them into an easy to consume list and communicate them to your manager and get their feedback. This is a great way to show that you’re organized and disciplined. Don't be afraid to ask for support—or politely push back by explaining why some tasks may need to be prioritized. Over the years, this simple yet powerful framework has helped my clients achieve more results while avoiding burnout. What has worked for you? #ProductMarketing #newjob #coaching #growth #tech

Big picture to daily focus: A smarter way to prioritize. Prioritization can feel overwhelming—especially when you're juggling market strategies, portfolios, projects, and daily tasks. But what if there was a simple, clear method to align it all? Here’s the approach I use: 1️⃣ 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗢𝘂𝘁: Start with the market view. Use tools like the 𝗕𝗖𝗚 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘅 to evaluate opportunities and prioritize at the strategic level. 2️⃣ 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗜𝗻: Shift to the project view. The 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘌𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘹 bridges strategy to execution by helping you focus on tasks with the highest impact. 3️⃣ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆: Finally, organize your personal time with the 𝗘𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘅 to ensure you work smart and avoid unnecessary distractions. To make it even easier, I’ve redesigned the matrices to follow a consistent high/low format. This alignment helps you read, understand, and act faster. Prioritization doesn’t have to be complicated. By zooming out, then zooming in, you can turn strategy into seamless execution. Note that I've used my 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘅 at Microsoft to prioritize efforts as big as multi-million dollar ventures down to much smaller efforts.  By simply checking the impact on a scale of 1 to 10, and ability to execute on a scale of 1 to 10, as a team or individually, all will get revealed. What’s your go-to method for prioritizing? Let’s share tips below! #leadership #productivity

Struggle for Prioritization - How to fix it? Prioritization isn't just a task; it's an art, especially at the intersection of engineering and product management. Drawing from my journey, I've found the Eisenhower Matrix to be a game-changer. It propels tasks into four quadrants: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. This framework is my compass for steering through the chaotic seas of tasks. Once, we faced a critical bug just before a major product release. Urgent and important, right? But, pausing to think, we realized it stemmed from neglecting some important but not urgent tasks in the previous cycle. Lesson learned: balance is key. Anecdotes aside, another gem is the MoSCoW method. Must-haves, Should-haves, Could-haves, and Won't-haves. It's a brilliant guide for aligning engineering and product goals, setting expectations, and avoiding scope creep. Prioritization isn't just about tasks; it's about orchestrating harmony between urgency and importance, a symphony that turns chaos into progress. Focus should be customer not my team, my service, my people. What frameworks guide your prioritization? Share your insights! #ProductManagement #EngineeringLeadership #PrioritizationJourney

Being a founder at Unify in a hyper-growth environment can be disorienting at times. My to-do list is endless. In the chaos, the right prioritization frameworks save me. Here's the 2-part prioritization process I use to maintain focus: 1) Narrowing In I start every week with a clear set of 3 top priorities that I want to complete. Throughout the week, Connor and I hold each other accountable for getting these done by sending our respective priorities to each other at the start of the week. As a founder, it's easy to get pulled into different directions at a moment's notice -- having this list to look back on keeps me organized and refocuses me whenever I have focus time. 2) Zooming Out You need to set big milestones for the month, the quarter, and the year. Why? Big bets are taken over longer periods of time, they can't be executed in a week. Stepping back gives you the perspective to set lofty goals. Connor and I hold ourselves accountable for these by outlining our quarterly goals to our board. Each board meeting we report on which of those we got done, and which we didn't. Coupling these two focuses keeps me moving in the right direction despite all the chaos of building a company. How do you manage prioritization? 

Feeling overwhelmed by too many things to do? Here are 3 methods that help me prioritize and get back on track: 1. Use the 2x2 Matrix (Value vs. Effort) You place tasks into 4 categories: → High value, low effort (do these NOW) → High value, high effort (schedule these) → Low value, low effort (delegate if possible) → Low value, high effort (eliminate) This framework helps you focus on what truly matters while cutting out the noise. 2. Group Tasks Bulkification isn’t just for backend processes... Sometimes, it’s easier to manage tasks when they are clustered by a similar process or component. For example - → Have a bunch of meetings to schedule? Knock them all out at once. → Need to review multiple reports? Do it one after the other. Do it to build momentum and minimize switching costs (AKA "Multi-tasking") 3. Manager vs. Maker Time (Alex Hormozi’s Method) Manager - oversees projects, attending meetings, and making decisions. Maker - Does the actual work - tasks like writing, designing, or problem-solving. We all play both roles, but the mindset and productivity measures are opposites. Block out time for manager tasks and maker tasks. This separation brings clarity and ensures you’re not mixing two very different productivity modes at the same time. P.S. Which of these methods have you tried? --- ♻️ Feel free to share this with someone who needs a productivity boost!