Important: (adj.) marked by or indicative of significant worth or consequence: valuable in content or relationship
Urgent: (adj.) calling for immediate attention: pressing
My days are filled with tasks and projects, but are they important or urgent ones? I find myself asking the question as I look at today’s to-do list and items due later in the week. I ask, “Am I spending my time in the most productive and effective way possible?”
I sometimes don’t. I let the urgent take precedence over the important, so much so that the latter gets lost or set aside for much too long. I get to the end of the day and wonder where it went, how I seemed to have accomplished little.
Occasionally that’s a true statement; other times, it’s a byproduct of a workaholic tendency. It’s easy to feel guilty when I lose sight of where my identity rests, of whose I am. I wrap up my sense of worth in what I do rather than in who I am.
When the statement is objectively true, though, I need to take a closer look at my lists and how I prioritize its activities. The urgent matters, but I mustn’t get lost in them. If I do, I will turn into Martha scrambling about the kitchen, banging the pots and pans in frustration. I will lose sight of what’s important, what is and always will be better.
That’s a principle applicable to all of life, not merely the spiritual realm. Every day I must ask if I’m making the most of it, if I’m giving enough time to the important activities or if I’m getting waylaid by the ones that press and press and press and demand attention.
The urgent will always be there, clamoring. They are like a bevy of reporters who haven’t realized the press conference has ended or a kid tugging on his mom’s coat because he wants a piece of candy. If I cave to the pressure, I will spend a lifetime responding to questions and doing things of little import.
I can do something different, but it’s going to require a different mindset. I will have to stay alert. I need to guard my time because it is a precious, precious resource. Once gone, I can’t reclaim it. It’s gone, forever. Because of that, I have to look at my days’ work and ask, “Is it important or is urgent?”
Image: Celestine Chua (Creative Commons)
This, this is why I dislike texting being used for so much communication. When it wasn’t ‘free’ we used text judiciously for things important and urgent, for those moments when we couldn’t call or be heard, so a text did the job. Now… not so much.
Then there’s the difference between someone else’s important and/or urgent drama – vs. mine. Which is where I draw the line – the call, text, email inbox – none are my to do list. I’ve got MY priorities and do my best to weigh everything else against them. FWIW.
3HatsComm You and I feel the same way about texting!
And indeed. We have to know our priorities first and stick to them so that we aren’t dashing around like…I guess squirrels will do. They’re easily distracted by some new thing on the ground.