Many workplaces are home to those disorganised employees who jump from job to job like a blue tit on a branch. The half-written report is left as the blue tit hops across the desk to make a phone call, then hops back and minimises the report because the person on the phone has asked the whereabouts of his email. One thing leads to another and his whole day is spent trying to keep on top of the mounting pile of jobs. Then at the end of the day our feathered friend has to explain to his boss (a rather stern-looking owl) why the report was not delivered on time. Such bad time management is a waste of energy and effort and, ultimately, money.

Although interruptions and little emergencies can eat into the time of the most organised worker, for the most part the hours of the working day can be arranged so that maximum productivity is achieved. And one of the most useful skills to possess for effective time management is the ability to prioritise your workload.

To return to the ornithological theme, we've all seen on Springwatch how the mother bird goes about feeding her clutch of chicks in the nest. The chicks are all vying for her attention, but it is the one with the loudest cheep that gets fed first. So it should be with your workload; the one screaming 'feed me' the loudest should get your attention before the others.

So what are the factors that single out the priority a job should be given? Well there are generally two main reasons that a job will be at, or near, the top of the list, and these are value and deadline.

Value could refer to the profitability of a job, i.e., how much hard cash it will bring in. Obviously this is always an important factor because without profits there would be no business. But it also refers to the value there is placed on a job because of the relationship with the client. Regular custom is the solid foundation on which many businesses stand and so valued clients should be treat with respect. To be dazzled by cash and go rushing ahead with a £1000 one-off job at the cost of delaying a regular £500-a-month one is not really demonstrating good prioritisation skills. The one-off client may be delighted with his product and off he goes, never to be seen again, while the regular client is left somewhat disgruntled at receiving his order late and off he goes too - taking his £500-a-month order with him. So prioritising your workload is not entirely dependent on a single factor like profitability (if only life were so simple); there are other aspects that need to be taken into consideration before deciding on the order of priority. It is not always the client with the most cash that yells 'feed me' the loudest.

Deadlines are a different, and often more stressful matter (I know this as a writer of articles). It sometimes happens with jobs that have deadlines to be met that they can be pushed down the list of priorities because there is often no sense of urgency about them at first. After all, a deadline that is three weeks away is certainly nothing to panic about. However, it could then be that other projects bog you down and the deadline comes lurching over the horizon without the work being done. This is where it becomes stressful and as a result the work can be rushed and not up to the usual standard. It is advisable, therefore, to carefully weigh up how much priority should be placed on a job with a deadline to be met. If you think it may be troublesome, or that there are other projects further down the line, then give it the priority it deserves and don't put it on the back burner just because the deadline is some way off.

Prioritising the workload is only one aspect of time management. It is a varied and interesting subject that, when learned and applied, enables the student to go about his tasks in a less stressful, more productive way, while his colleague is still making a blue tit of himself.