07Sep
2010

Written by James Ashford See James Ashford's Google Profile >>

Important Vs Urgent

There are things which you need to do that are important and things which are urgent. But where should you be spending your time?

The problem is that you’ve been trained to believe that Urgent=Important and this is not the case. Believeing this makes you inefficient and less effective.

How to categorise tasks

You should categorise every task that falls onto your lap like this:

1. Important & Urgent – Such as your VAT return which must be filed today

2. Important but Not Urgent - Such as that amazing website idea you have

3. Not Important but Urgent - Such as booking your tickets for the races tomorrow

4.Not Important & Not Urgent - Such as tidying your drawers

Numbers 3 & 4 can be removed from the equation straight away. If they’re Not Important, just ditch them.

And this brings us onto points 1 & 2. If I were to ask you where you should be spending most of your efforts, you probably say number 1 – Important & Urgent. But this is a mistake.

People confuse urgency with importance. Just because something is Not Urgent, doesn’t make it less important. That amazing website idea you have, never gets done because although it’s important, it’s not urgent and so never makes it onto your radar. This results in important tasks never getting done.

Change your focus

By focusing your efforts onto the Important but Not Urgent category, you find that things don’t become urgent and so never pose a problem. So that VAT return now gets completed, long before it become a matter of urgency.

To get a great understanding of this to to learn how to get more done with less effort, check out:

See larger image The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Paperback) By (author) Stephen R. Covey List Price: £14.99 GBP New From: £7.53 In Stock Used from: £4.17 In Stock