Really helpful advice

I was getting kind of stressed out last year, and my advisor in the McNair program gave me advice that I have used over and over since then. "Put out the hottest fire first." Simple right? Do what needs to be done first, then move on. I always overcomplicate things. For example, last week I panicked looking at my to-do list. I had a poster due, some important assignments due in my research class, and this psychology class I'm taking online. My instinct is to work on the hardest things first (like cook dinner in the morning so all I have to do is scramble eggs later sort of mentality), but really, if I just finish them in the order they're due, it's so much easier. Here I am, smooth sailing through those psychology assignments because I made sure I didn't have anything else to do during this time. Sure, I only have 3 days to finish them all, but I'm done with everything else, so it's totally attainable. And so much better than trying to do 9 things at once.