MoSCoW for Better Mental Health

So I currently work as a product manager for a lifestyle application and what I essentially do is prioritise work for a technical team using several methods. One popular method of prioritisation is the MoSCoW method.

MoSCoW is an acronym for “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have” and “Would have” and how its used to prioritise features is exactly in that order.

Now, I am going to delve into how MoSCoW could be applied in our day-to-day lives and why I think its beneficial for most of us.

In this day and age, most of us suffer from anxiety or some other form of mental health disorder, whether it is diagnosed or not. For people like us, prioritisation could be the way forwards. Let’s say you’re a single mom with 2 young kids and you work a day job, it must be difficult co-ordinating your children’s schedules to yours, paying your bills, taxes, rent etc. as well as meeting or taking care of your parents and having a social life. A great way to navigate this sea of overwhelming and endless tasks is to use the MoSCoW method.

So, the single mom above would decide that she “Must have” her job in order to pay rent, bills and taxes. She “Should have” time to spend with her children. She “Could have” time to spend with her parents and she “Would have” a social life if she manages all of the above efficiently.

Now, as easy and straightforward as it sounds, no one really prioritises well enough to overcome their anxiety and accomplish their “Must haves” and “Should haves” efficiently. Some people have a ton of tasks on the highest priority to the point that they may never reach their low priority tasks. If that is the case for you, take a deeper look into your life. With some self-reflection, you’ll realise that that work brunch you thought would help with your promotion never really did what you thought it would, or that “big presentation” you were preparing for didn’t really require that much preparation time and would have still turned out great.

So, if you’re ever at this juncture after applying the theories above, remember to take a chill pill and scratch some “Must haves” off or just chuck them in the “Would have” pile. Trust me, life would be easier that way and you’ll be happier. Thank me later.