Inciter Art | Fractured Atlas

The Battle of the Urgent vs the Important

Written by Tim Cynova | March 28, 2017

Throughout our lives, we’re constantly fighting the Battle of The Urgent versus The Important. If left unchecked, the urgent will fill our days, seducing us with its sweet, false sense of accomplishment and distracting us from the *important* work that changes the world.

In this episode of How We Work:TV, we explore nine strategies that can help you manage your time and avoid letting the endless list of urgent distract you from higher purpose work.

Strategies include:

(1) Pregaming your work
(2) Drowning out your distractions
(3) Creating meeting-free zones
(4) Letting it go to voicemail
(5) Leaving breadcrumbs
(6) Deleting everything in your inbox
(7) Checking email only three times a day
(8) Don’t clean your desk
(9) Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good

Want more tips to help manage the Urgent versus the Important? Check out Harvard Business Review’s Guide to Getting The Right Work Done.