prioritize
pry-OR-ih-tize
/praɪˈɒr.ɪ.taɪz/
To designate or treat something as more important than other things.
Prioritizing is an active choice to rank items, often involving the difficult decision of what not to do.
The story behind the word. From the Latin 'prior', meaning 'first'. Interestingly, the word 'priority' was singular for centuries—you could only have one. It wasn't until the 1940s that we started 'prioritizing' multiple things at once.
Word relationships
- rank: Ranking is just putting things in order; prioritizing is giving the top items more resources and attention.
- procrastinate: Procrastinating is delaying important tasks, while prioritizing is addressing them first.
Commonly confused with
- organize: Organizing is putting things in their place; prioritizing is deciding which place is most important.
Word family
- priority (noun): the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important.
- prioritization (noun): the action of deciding the relative importance of things.
Collocations
- prioritize tasks
- prioritize needs
- ruthlessly prioritize
- high priority
Idioms & expressions
- first things first
Example sentences
- "You must learn to prioritize your tasks if you want to avoid burnout." Time Management
- "The government needs to prioritize healthcare spending over military expansion." Public Policy
Memory hook
Think of a 'Pry-bar'—you use it to 'pry' the most important task out of a pile of distractions. Put the first things first.
When not to use
Avoid using it if everything is equally important; if everything is a priority, nothing is.
Fun facts
- The Eisenhower Matrix is a famous tool for prioritizing based on 'Urgency' and 'Importance'.
Explore more words
give priority, procrastinate, designate, allocate, deliberate
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