The million dollar question in Product & Project Management is -

How do you handle ad hoc tasks without losing sight of real priorities?

This isn’t about MoSCoW or backlog grooming. This is about the real stuff Product Owners and PMs face daily:

• Unplanned requests
• Slack/Teams pings
• Stakeholder “quick asks”
• Random bugs and dependencies

It’s a silent productivity killer. Here is the list of few techniques that I have been using - that can be helpful for you:

1. Plan 3 weekly non-negotiables

Start your week with 3 must-do priorities tied to roadmap or OKRs

Every ad hoc task goes through this filter:“Does this impact the weekly 3?”

If not — Delegate, Delay, or Deprioritise

2. Use the DPA Technique

As soon as a task lands, sort it into:

Do Now: takes <15 minutes and blocks someone else

Park: log it for later, doesn’t need attention now

Assign: someone else can handle it better

3. Block focus calendar

Pick 2 time slots for yourself

If something is not urgent, don't do it right away.

4. Maintain Ad-hoc task list

Use any tool you prefer - keep track of all tasks that come randomly on your plate.

Set priority for it, Add date, Add status. - This will be useful for tracking and for your peace of mind too.

4. Respond with prioritization clarity

When someone asks or delegate ad-hoc task, say:

“Happy to take it up. Should I prioritise this over [X] or [Y] task?"

5. Share the Load

You don't need to do everything alone. Have regular catchup with your team. Discuss and delegate.

Remember,

Not everything is urgent.

Choose your time and energy wisely.

There will not be apocalypse if you take some time.

Breath in, Breath out :)