So, you are facing a huge backlog of tasks that you need to complete. How do you attack the work in the most efficient way?

There are several ways to work through your backlog. Here are some that I've used effectively:

• Do them in order of the deadline. First due is first done.
• Complete the largest project first. Once that's done, you'll be energized to complete everything else — which will seem much less intimidating after the big block is gone.
• Complete the smallest project first and then go after them in order of increasing size. You'll be energized by crossing things off and you can use that momentum to attack the larger projects.
• Do things in decreasing order of importance — so paying bills happens before reading an old magazine.
• Do a little bit of each project each so that you are making progress on many fronts at once and you aren't burning out on any one task.
• Make a list of everything you have to do and assign a task (or group of tasks) to each day for a limited period of time. Once you've completed each day's list, you're done and you can relax.

I've used all of these at one point or another. Which one works best often depends on my mood and on the nature of the tasks that I'm facing.

What method (one of these or your own) works best for you?