---
title: How do you prioritize when everything feels urgent?
description: Interview · Problem-Solving · Question 19
section: mind
tags: [interview, problem-solving]
genre: reference
stability: stable
lastUpdated: 2026-04-17
url: https://fardiniqbal.com/docs/mind/interview/problem-solving/how-do-you-prioritize-when-everything-feels-urgent
---


I maintained six production applications simultaneously as a solo developer. Everything felt urgent all the time. A credential expiring at Tiny Steps could lock a therapist out of the system. A missing-punch bug at Tiny Time Keeper could corrupt a week's payroll data. A trial recording issue at Tiny Thoughts could lose clinical data for a child.

My system is: who gets hurt, and how badly?

Clinical data loss is irreversible. That's first. A therapist locked out of the system during a session with a child is second. A payroll issue is painful but fixable. A UI annoyance is last.

I don't prioritize by loudness. I prioritize by consequence. The person screaming the loudest in Slack is not necessarily the person with the most critical problem. I learned to ask: "If I don't fix this today, what actually happens?" If the answer is "someone's clinical data is at risk," I drop everything. If the answer is "someone's slightly annoyed," it goes in the queue.

Beyond production: in my own life, I've learned the hard way that the most urgent-feeling thing, usually paid work, is often not the most important thing. The most important things are quiet. Your health. Your relationships. Your learning. They don't send notifications. They just deteriorate silently while you chase what's screaming.