prioritize

3 definitions • 4 examples

to decide which of a group of things are the most important so that you can deal with them first:

You must learn to prioritize your work.

to arrange in order of importance so that you can deal with the most important things before the others:

[ I ] You have to prioritize in this job because you can’t do everything.

to decide which of a number of different jobs or tasks are most important or urgent and deal with them first:

Having a good grasp of the issues and knowing how to prioritize are essential when it comes to decision-making.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, the administration had to decide how the rebuilding of shattered public infrastructure would be prioritized.