Automated Dynamic Prioritization in Jira: A Manager’s Tale

For when you have too many things to do and not enough time to decide which to do first.

I’ve always been on the hunt for the perfect way to track and organize my work. Over the years, I have tried many different methods:

• For task tracking: Post-it notes, Trello, Google Tasks, self-DMs in Slack, and countless daily written journal notebooks.
• For prioritization: T-shirt sizing, due dates, last-in-first-out, Eisenhower Matrix, PARA, you name it.

None of them have stuck. The problem? I track everything from casual reminders like needing to chat with a specific person about something small, to hands on supporting a team members project, to writing up documentation, to spending time thinking about a topic at a high level, to putting regular effort towards a large initiative. It’s all valuable, and I want it all logged.

For some of the tools, the logging part actually worked out fine. What didn’t work was prioritizing the endlessly growing list. Once it ballooned beyond 10-15 items, I’d spend 10-15 minutes every morning just figuring out what to do first. As a manager with limited focus time between meetings, I needed a better solution.

How I Automated Task Prioritization in Jira

4×4 Priority Matrix

At the core of my system is a custom 4×4 matrix. Most folks use 2×2 matrices, but I needed more nuance for my highest priority tasks.

Extensive / Widespread	10	6	3	1
Significant / Large	13	9	5	2
Moderate / Limited	15	12	8	4
Minor / Localized	16	14	11	7
	> 1 Week	1 Week	24 Hours	Immediate

This lets me prioritize, say, a widespread-impact initiative due in two weeks over a minor task due tomorrow. The result is a more meaningful prioritization than simply sorting by date or gut feeling.

I’ve experimented with different weightings – some matrices that emphasize urgency, others that put impact as more valuable. There’s no “perfect” matrix. It should evolve with your work and this is where mine has landed.

Automating the Priority Matrix in Jira

Here’s where the real magic happens.

I used to manually tag every new task with Impact and Urgency, cross-reference my matrix, update Urgency as due dates changed, then have to cross-reference my matrix again to assign the Priority Number.

Now, it’s automatic.

Every task gets a due date – even those without a hard deadline, like “evaluate art pipeline.” I just give myself a reasonable target to aim for. Then each morning, a Jira automation rule runs the following actions:

1. Checks the current due date
2. Updates the Time Urgency field
3. Cross-references Impact and Urgency on the matrix
4. Sets a Priority Number
5. Reorders my list

That’s it. No more fiddling, no more forgetting. Just a neatly prioritized list when I log in each day.

Results

I’ve been using this system for just over three weeks, and already it’s helped me consistently focus on what matters most before I get pulled into a rabbit hole of due-soon-but-low-value tasks.

More importantly, it’s eased that nagging question:

“Am I working on the right thing right now?”

Now, I know I am!