How to Prioritize Tasks: 6 Methods Compared With an Example

To prioritize tasks, list everything, estimate how long each task takes, compare the total with the hours you actually have, then rank the list with one method and cut what does not fit. The method matters less than using one consistently: the Eisenhower matrix, MoSCoW, ABCDE, impact vs effort, RICE and stack ranking all work, each for a different kind of list.

Below is a comparison table of the six methods, a closer look at MoSCoW and ABCDE, and one real task list run through both.

How to Prioritize Tasks in Six Steps

Whichever method you choose, the process around it is the same:

1. Capture every task in one list. Tasks split across email, sticky notes and memory cannot be compared with each other.
2. Write each one as an action. “Q1 plan” becomes “draft the Q1 content calendar”, which you can estimate and finish.
3. Estimate the hours. Rough is fine. Round up to the nearest half hour, because most tasks run long.
4. Work out your real capacity. Take your working hours for the period and subtract meetings and routine work. What is left is what you can plan.
5. Rank with one method from the table below.
6. Cut to fit, on purpose. Anything beyond your capacity gets moved to a later date, handed off or dropped, and you tell anyone affected.

Step 4 is the one people skip, and it is why a ranked list still ends the week half done.

Prioritization Methods Compared

Method	How it works	Best for	Watch out for
Eisenhower matrix	Sort each task by urgent and important into Do, Decide, Delegate or Delete	A mixed work or personal list that is longer than your week	Calling everything urgent
MoSCoW	Label each item Must, Should, Could or Won’t (this time)	A fixed deadline with flexible scope: a launch, an event, a release	Too many Musts
ABCDE	Letter each task by consequence, then number within the letter (A-1, A-2)	A weekly or daily to-do list you work through in order	Letters without numbers leave ties
Impact vs effort	Score each task 1 to 5 for impact and for effort; do high impact, low effort first	Long lists of ideas or improvements	Big, important projects look unattractive because of their effort
RICE	Reach × Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort, compared as a score	Features, campaigns or projects that affect different numbers of people	Overkill for personal to-do lists
Stack ranking	Put every task in one order, 1 to N, with no ties, by comparing pairs	Lists where everything feels equally important	Slow on long lists

For filled-in versions of the first method, see our Eisenhower matrix examples. The two methods people most often ask about are below.

The MoSCoW Method

MoSCoW comes from agile software projects, and it answers one question: what is in scope before the deadline? Must haves are the items the deadline is pointless without. Should haves are important but have a workaround. Could haves are extras if time allows. Won’t haves are explicitly out this time, which is the most useful label of the four because it makes the cut visible.

The guidance that comes with the method is to keep Must haves to about 60% of the available effort. The rest is room for Should and Could items, and for the surprises every project has.

The ABCDE Method

The ABCDE method, popularized by Brian Tracy in Eat That Frog!, letters each task by the consequence of not doing it:

• A: serious consequences if it is not done.
• B: mild consequences.
• C: nice to do, no real consequence.
• D: delegate it to someone else.
• E: eliminate it.

Then you number the A tasks in order (A-1, A-2, A-3) and do the same for B. The rule is simple: never start a B task while an A task is left undone.

Worked Example: One List, Two Methods

Sam, a marketing coordinator, has 30 hours of open time this week after meetings. The task list adds up to 40 hours, 10 more than the week holds. Here it is, labeled with both methods:

Task	Hours	Due	MoSCoW	ABCDE
Fix the broken sign-up form	2	Monday	Must	A-1
Campaign brief for the director	5	Wednesday	Must	A-2
Slides for Thursday’s client meeting	4	Thursday	Must	A-3
Weekly analytics report	2	Friday	Must	D (intern)
Reply to vendor proposals	2	Next Tuesday	Should	B-1
Q1 content calendar	6	Next Friday	Should	B-2
Two blog posts for next month	6	In three weeks	Should	B-3
Research a new email tool	3	None	Could	C
Update the brand style guide	5	None	Could	D (designer)
Clean up the old image library	5	None	Won’t	E
Total	40

Here is how each method fills the 30 hours:

MoSCoW	Hours	ABCDE	Hours
Must	13	A (Sam)	11
Should	14	B (Sam)	14
Could	8 (3 fit)	C (Sam)	3
Won’t	5	D (handed off)	7
		E (dropped)	5
Sam’s week	30 of 30	Sam’s week	28 of 30

MoSCoW keeps the Musts at 13 hours, about 43% of the week and well under the 60% guideline. Must and Should together take 27 hours, which leaves 3 hours for the email tool research. The style guide and the image library, 10 hours in all, wait for another week. The week is full, with no slack.

ABCDE gives nearly the same order for Sam’s own work, but the D and E letters change the math. The analytics report and the style guide, 7 hours, go to people who can do them, and the image cleanup is dropped. Sam’s own tasks come to 28 hours, leaving 2 hours of slack, and the style guide gets done this week instead of waiting.

The lesson: MoSCoW is best for agreeing scope with someone else, because the Won’t list shows exactly what is being left out. ABCDE is best for running your own week, because it asks who should do each task, not only when. Many people use both: MoSCoW with the manager on Monday, ABCDE for the order of work. The D tasks then need a proper handoff, which how to delegate tasks covers step by step.

Prioritizing Tasks in a Spreadsheet

A ranked list is easy to keep in Google Sheets or Excel. Use column A for the task, B for hours, C for the letter (A to E), D for the number within the letter and E for Done (“Yes” when finished).

Open tasks in priority order. This formula lists unfinished tasks sorted by letter, then by number:

• Google Sheets: =SORT(FILTER(A2:D100, A2:A100<>"", E2:E100<>"Yes"), 3, TRUE, 4, TRUE)
• Excel (2021 or Microsoft 365): =SORT(FILTER(A2:D100, (A2:A100<>"")*(E2:E100<>"Yes")), {3,4}, {1,1})

Google Sheets takes each condition and each sort column as separate arguments. Excel multiplies the conditions and takes the sort columns as a list in braces. In Excel 2019 or earlier, use Data > Sort with two levels instead.

Hours you are keeping, the same in both apps: =SUMIFS(B2:B100, C2:C100, "<>D", C2:C100, "<>E"). For Sam’s list this returns 28. Subtract it from your capacity to see your slack, and if the answer is negative, cut before the week starts rather than on Friday.

If you would rather tick two boxes than assign letters, the Eisenhower matrix template sorts each task into To Do, To Decide, To Delegate or To Delete from important and urgent checkboxes.

From a Ranked List to Getting It Done

A ranked list tells you what matters; two habits turn it into finished work. First, limit how much you start at once: a board with a cap on work in progress, as in personal kanban, stops the top five tasks from all being half done. Second, pick each day’s main task from the top of the list. That daily routine, one main task plus a few priorities, is covered in how to prioritize your day. If your list spans several projects, rank the projects first, as explained in how to manage multiple projects, then the tasks inside them.

Before you rank anything this week, do the capacity sum in step 4. Knowing that you have 30 hours, not 40, makes every later choice easier.