Urgent - Important? Or is it Important not Urgent?

Mar 15, 2018

Hi  Friends,

I'm obsessed with dime stores these days.  It's the pirate in me - I love looking for treasure.  I was debating over a snazzy koi pond dish when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dear old friend.  Do you remember Stephen R. Covey, the guy who wrote "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"?  That book was all the buzz when I worked in corporate 20 years ago.  I was young and wanted desperately to "get" what he was talking about, and finally here was my chance.  I grabbed the cd set off the shelf and held it to my heart.  I found my gold. 

Chalk full of awesomeness, one of the frameworks he was very popular for, and still is, is the concept of sorting out and understanding our priorities.  Check it out. 

Draft out four boxes:  

One box has Important/Urgent and includes: Crisis, deadlines, immediate attention items and problems. 

The second box is called Not Urgent/Important and refers to stuff like:  Prevention, building relationships, planning recreation, and living by you or your company's mission statement. 

The third box is called Urgent/Not Important which includes: Interruptions, email, reports, meetings, pressing matters, and other people's poor planning emergencies. 

And the fourth box is called Not Important/Not Urgent and includes, but not limited to: Time wasters, browsing the internet, poor transitions, email, gossip, and phone calls. 

Apply this to your whole life; write short lists just to get an idea of the exercise, and shed some light on your priorities.  See if you spend most of your time putting out fires, surfing the web, or more importantly, check out the areas that get no love from you at all! 

I was completely busted.  I spent almost zero time in the Not Urgent/Important quadrant.  This meant my Hubby was being taken for granted, my health was taking a dive, I worked loooong hours, and I wasn't living up to my own standards.  But I was so busy!  But I was so productive!  But, but...but...crap! 

I immediately started spending inspired time with my guy; I went on the Whole30 diet (whole food) and got my health back to awesome; I planned a beach vacation for our family; I mapped out my schedule so I could be more present, and now I know I'm living into my integrity by being who I thought I already was.     

I would love to hear your experience with this amazing and timeless framework.  If you have time, give it a whirl and let me know.  I hope you find some loot.  (This goes in the Not Urgent/Important box by the way! :)) 

If you ever want to do some clarity hunting, I'm here for you.

Written by Penny Sisley @https://www.advancedlifemastery.com/

Penny Sisley is a Certified High Performance Coach, an avid Tapper, and a loving student of Paramahansa Yogananda.  She enjoys sharing hard earned, inspired wisdom, with anyone seeking a clear mind and a fresh outlook.  When she is not at the baseball field rooting her husband and boys on, or volunteering at her sons' schools, you can find her celebrating life with her girlfriends, or hiding in a closet reading a book. 

 

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