I don’t have time

When we procrastinate we often say, “I don’t have time for this now.”

Nature has been absolutely fair in distributing time. Everyone has 24 hours in a day. No more and no less. It is up to us what we do with these 24 hours in a day. Heads of states and large organizations don’t have even a second more than what we common people have in a day. How is it that they are able to accomplish so much in the same time?

I believe the answer lies in their ability to distinguish between ‘important’ and ‘urgent’ tasks. Both are not same. An important task may not be urgent and an urgent task may not be important.

Important tasks are those that would bring long-term and lasting benefits. They are necessary to sustain the life and living. They are also critical in providing inner growth / maturity. Examples could be daily exercise, meditation, learning new skills, developing career goals, bonding with family and friends, working for the greater cause benefitting society, etc.

Urgent tasks, on the other hand, are those that must be done now. They are controlled by externally set narrow deadlines. They may even threaten your very survival. They are often associated with anxiety and stress. Examples could be: fixing a failed equipment or system on which the entire organization is dependent, responding to your superior’s call, responding to nature’s call, submitting a paper or report against a fast approaching deadline, renewing important documents or permissions that are about to expire, etc.

In this context, Stephen Covey’s famous Time Management Quadrant is worth looking at:

If we allow ourselves to be constantly driven by the urgent tasks in life, it may become our habit and ultimately an addiction, whereby unless a task becomes urgent we don’t act.

No one ever got ahead in life, or became successful, by just doing the urgent things. The people who get ahead in life, the people who realize their goals, and achieve the things they want in their life, all have one thing in common. They do what is important. They do what is important even though it means putting off at least some of the things that are urgent, or seem urgent.

I often use the following set of questions to sort out my priority of tasks:

• Would ‘not doing this task’ threaten my survival so that it must be done now?
• Is this task facing a tight deadline (fixed by my superiors or clients) so that I must give it a high priority over other important tasks?
• Is this task important for my future career / growth? Can I squeeze it in between other urgent tasks or schedule it at a definite time of the day? I understand that even incremental progress on an important task regularly would make me move forward and feel better.
• Is this task part of my daily healthy routine and doing which I shall feel refreshed and more energetic?
• Would this task result in no lasting benefits for me or others and hence can be dropped?
• Is this task in accordance with my conscience which, like a compass, always points to that which is right for me?

What is your way of prioritizing? Please share your secrets of managing your time.