A Juggling Act
I wrote the above entry in my journal several days ago. What a
day that was! How about you…been there lately?
Life can be such a juggling act. Like professional jugglers, we
try to keep 5 or 6 balls moving through the air at the same time.
But unlike professional jugglers, we rarely succeed.
Everyone is so busy these days. Work is performed at a frantic
pace and people are in such a hurry. There is an air of impatience
and intolerance—a lot of frenetic darting to and fro that
is almost out of control. It’s very difficult to keep your
priorities in line when life is so fast paced. But the negative
consequences of so much activity—stress, damaged or broken
relationships, poor health---can wreak more havoc than what we
think we will gain.
The Urgent
I tried for years to use a paper-based time management system
with columns similar to this: “Must Do…Need to
Do...Like to Do”. I’m sure you’ve used something
like this (maybe even now). The problem I encountered was that
I never seemed to get around to doing much in the “Like
to Do” column, which was very discouraging. The “Must
Do and Need to Do” items consumed all of my time.
So I switched to a simpler paper-based system with the following
columns, “Urgent” and “Important”.
Now, I was sure to spend my time wisely. Unfortunately, I found
out that the urgent things monopolized my time and pushed the important
things to the back-burner.
Here are three examples of ”The Urgent”:
- Pressing or burning imperatives that must be completed immediately.
- Critical or vital tasks that someone else insists be performed
without delay.
- Unrelenting and persistent routine demands on your time.
The Important
“The Urgent” often masquerades as ”The
Important”. However, not everything we do is important.
To identify what’s important to you requires that you answer
three questions:
- Will the activity I am about to participate in make a significant
and lasting positive impact on others?
- Is what I am about to do an unselfish act that will bring happiness
or joy to others?
- Do my actions and activities promote balance in my life or
are they all-consuming?
The Bottom Line
Identifying ”The Important” requires focus—a
concentration of energy, effort, and thought. ”The Important” is
where you should spend most of your time. Now, before you send
me screaming emails, I don’t mean that you shouldn’t
address ”The Urgent”. Instead, consider the
following:
Focus on ”The Important”!
Priority is the key to managing ”The Urgent” and
focusing on ”The Important”. Before you leap
to complete a task, take a few moments to think about its true
priority. Does it need to be done right at this moment, or is there
something else on your list that should come first?
While others may demand that everything on your To-Do List
must be done immediately, you and only you can really determine
what should be done first, second, third, etc. (It’s not
possible to do everything at once; priority must be given to each
item).
Today, I've taken a dose of my own medicine and committed to focusing
on ”The Important”. So far, I've accomplished
at least one thing that will have a significant and positive impact
on others—finishing this article.
Althea DeBrule, entrepreneur and seasoned human resources executive,
has focused for more than 30 years on helping people achieve their
career goals. Creator of The Extreme-Career-Makeover™ and
a founding partner of RADSGroup Organizational Consultants, she is
recognized for her bottom line and practical application of career
development and management strategies in a way that penetrates hearts
and compels action. She speaks and teaches with inspired talent,
humor and contagious zeal at management conferences and leadership
retreats nationwide, and has been featured in CFO Magazine, Strategy@Work,
Human Resource Executive Magazine. Althea is the author of Bosses & Orchards,
a compelling and candid book about how to make your work relationship
with your boss succeed.
About the Author
To discover how you can take your career to a new level, visit http://www.extreme-career-makeover.com/ Article
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