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Action Priority Best Practices

When to use Urgent, Normal, and Low priority levels.

Last updated April 2026

Every action in Manager Toolkit has a priority level: Urgent, Normal, or Low. Using these consistently helps you stay focused on what matters most and prevents important tasks from getting buried.

Priority Levels Explained

Urgent

Tasks that are time-sensitive, blocking other work, or have an imminent deadline. These demand attention today or tomorrow.

Normal

Standard follow-up items with a reasonable timeframe. This is the default and covers most actions you will create.

Low

Nice-to-have tasks, ideas for later, or items with no fixed deadline. These can wait without consequence.

When to Use Urgent

Reserve Urgent for actions that genuinely cannot wait. Good examples include:

  • A team member raised a serious concern that needs addressing before your next catchup
  • A deadline is within the next two days and the work is not complete
  • Something is blocking another person's progress and they cannot move forward without it
If more than a quarter of your actions are marked Urgent, the label loses its meaning. Be disciplined about what truly qualifies. If everything is urgent, nothing is.

When to Use Normal

Normal is the right choice for most actions. These are things that need to happen but have a reasonable timeframe - typically within the next week or two. Examples include:

  • Following up on a topic discussed in a catchup
  • Reviewing someone's work before a target deadline
  • Preparing materials for an upcoming meeting or review

Normal priority actions appear on your dashboard in standard order, below any Urgent items.

When to Use Low

Low priority is for actions you want to track but that have no pressing deadline. These might include:

  • Ideas to explore when time permits
  • Long-term improvements that are not time-sensitive
  • Research or learning tasks that can be picked up between higher-priority work
Low priority does not mean unimportant. It means the timing is flexible. Review your Low priority items periodically to see if any have become more urgent.

How Priority Affects Your Dashboard

Your dashboard orders actions by priority, with Urgent items at the top. This means the first things you see each morning are the tasks that need immediate attention. Normal actions follow, and Low priority items appear last.

This ordering also applies when filtering actions by team or viewing the actions widget on your dashboard.

Review Priorities Weekly

Priorities change as circumstances evolve. What was Low priority last week might become Urgent this week due to a deadline shift or new information. Build a habit of reviewing your action priorities at the start of each week.

Open your actions page.
Scan through Urgent items first. Are they still genuinely urgent? Downgrade any that are not.
Check Normal items. Should any be escalated to Urgent based on upcoming deadlines?
Glance at Low items. Has anything become time-sensitive?

This weekly review takes just a few minutes and keeps your action list honest and useful.

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