A key part of being productive is prioritizing your daily responsibilities, which is why to-do lists are so important. Normally, I recommend using the Eisenhower Matrix, which helps you visually sort tasks by urgency and importance, but there’s another way: the ABCDE method, which comes from Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy. Sure, eating the frog—or tackling your biggest, most demanding task first—is one way to tackle your day’s tasks, but structuring how you’re going to get the rest of them done is pretty important, too. Here’s how it works.

The ABCDE method is a simple way to categorize everything you need to do. It can be a solid first step toward creating your to-do list, especially if you follow a model like the 1-3-5 list, where you have one big task, three medium tasks, and five small tasks to accomplish each day. Figuring out the big, medium, and small tasks is essentially a task in itself (but it doesn’t count as one of the five, sorry).

When you plan your day, give each task ahead of you a number. First, make a list of everything you need to do. This could be a list of your tasks for the day, week, or month. Eventually, you’ll whittle it down. Then, give each one a number based on this outline:

A is for the most important tasks, such as anything that has consequences if it is not done. These are those "frog" tasks that take resources and time, but they can also be something that does not take much time but has a serious penalty if it is not done, such as paying a bill on time.