Throughout my working life to date I have always worked in fast-paced environments with regular deadlines. I like the pace and excitement of this kind of workplace, but it does mean that you need to be very good at managing time and prioritising in order to get everything done. My recent positions as Business Analyst for example. The bread-and-butter of this role is eliciting, documenting and achieving stakeholder agreement on requirements for a project As a BA I employ a multi-stage process first seeking interviews with the key people working in and responsible for the process This process is obviously labour-intensive and time consuming and for me it results in appointment changes which sometimes make it difficult to meet the iron-clad deadlines which have been set In order to meet these deadlines I use various tools to organise and prioritise my work; primarily Outlook diary, Outlook reminders, and the Outlook to-do list. Every morning when I come in to work I spend 15-30 minutes planning the day ahead and prioritising tasks. I identify what must be done that day and what could conceivably be pushed back or rescheduled if necessary. Throughout the day I track the tasks I have completed and what is yet to be done, and I re-prioritise where necessary. I try to limit distractions (for example, I only check my email once every 30 minutes rather than continuously) and I group similar tasks together in order to make efficiency gains. While I try to be as self-sufficient as possible, in extreme circumstances I’ll ask for assistance from others in my team so that deadline aren’t missed. Conversely I try to leave a little bit of ‘wiggle room’ in my schedule so that I can make myself available to help others out. Prioritising and meeting deadlines in my job is a daily challenge, but my skills in this area make it one I can always overcome. My colleagues recognise this about me, and as a result I’m the ‘go-to’ person for advice when someone needs assistance with managing their time and prioritising.