This is is nifty trick that works wonders in helping us begin to see more clearly what people ask of us, and what we ask of ourself. Consider this training in discernment.
The practice of distinguishing what is urgent and important allows us to pause, align the tasks on our task list with our life, and determine if they are really ours to accomplish.
As professionals, we probably have things we want to focus on. By clearing out some of the tasks we have to do, we give yourself time and space to focus on things that matter and will get us closer to our goals, including deep work. Cal Newport, author of the book Deep Work, defines it as "professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate." We believe it doesn't have to be strictly professional, but really any activity that requires the same sense of concentration and flow.
these require swift attention (definitions below)
- Your to-do list - both personal and professional
- A clean sheet of paper (or screen) with enough space to divide into 4 sections
- Building a muscle of discernment
- Time and mental space for deep work
2. Create your personal guidelines of things that are Important and Urgent to you.
a. Review and write down the things you consider important. For example, you could value your professional work and physical activity, or place priority on family and relaxation.
b. Identify and write down the things that you feel need to be acted on quickly. For example, attending to family matters, or which emails or messages require an immediate response versus those that can wait because they need a thoughtful answer.
3. On a blank sheet, draw a quadrant, and label it this way.
a. Important and Urgent tasks. These tasks are of the highest priority level and should be your focus to complete as soon as possible.
b. Important, but Not Urgent tasks. Things that fall in this bucket are usually long-term goals and tasks that are important but may not have a firm deadline yet. Schedule them in a timely manner, attending to the more urgent ones right after you've finished everything from the first quadrant.
c. Not Important, but Urgent tasks. These tasks are the ones you can delegate to others or appoint to complete yourself if need be, but attend to these only after your first and second quadrant tasks are completed.
d. Not Important and Not Urgent tasks. The tasks are placed in the fourth quadrant because you should eliminate doing them. These may be the toughest to discern usually because of the perception of urgency, but you will find that most of these tasks don't even need to be done.
5. Tackle the items in your list according to quadrant.
6. Review your list as often as you feel is necessary.
As you go through life, your parameters for what's important and urgent will change. This is a good sign! Make sure to recalibrate this exercise whenever you feel like it's warranted.
"ALL ACTIVITIES, REGARDLESS OF THEIR IMPORTANCE, CONSUME YOUR SAME LIMITED STORE OF TIME AND ATTENTION. IF YOU SERVICE LOW-IMPACT ACTIVITIES, THEREFORE, YOU'RE TAKING AWAY TIME YOU COULD BE SPENDING ON HIGHER-IMPACT ACTIVITIES."
- CAL NEWPORT, DEEP WORK
