Tyranny of the Urgent

Photo by viviannedraper

During my senior year of high school, I had a teacher who was an overachiever of the good variety. He was the hiker, and his Mount Everest was the topic of time management.

Imagine that: instructing a group of teenagers (who think they have all the time in the world) that time is, in fact, a golden commodity.

Mr. Krueger was a soft-spoken man, yet his words--read from a tiny, yellow booklet that I can still see with clarity--were earsplitting in their importance:

"Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important."

He knew what he was talking about.

Though my to-do list looks nothing like it did all those years ago, the truth remains the same. I have a million things I could do, but only a handful I should do today. There is, perhaps, no greater time to reflect on this than a day in which we are saving time.

Thank you, Mr. Krueger, for taking the trek.

Time Management for the . . .

Photo by Dawn Huczek

I am wicked busy.

Now, much of it is my choice and most of it is profitable. There is very little I would change about the projects I accept, but there is no denying: I am busy. No doubt, you are busy, too. And so here are the strategies I have been implementing for 2011:

1. I write things down. Someone once told me that writing things down doesn't help us remember; it frees us to forget. So we can concentrate on doing rather than remembering. I have spent far too much time in my life re-tracing steps or wracking my memory for misplaced thoughts.

2. I carry a planner. (It's a hardback so I can take it through rainforests and editorial conferences without concern.) As soon as I make a commitment, I write it down. Dozens of forgotten commitments over the years have taught me that the annoyance of writing something down beats the disappointment of letting someone down. So I have no problem saying, "Excuse me a moment while I jot myself a note." Most people only throw tomatoes.

3. I (am learning to) delegate effectively. If I can pass off a task without neglecting my responsibility, I will do it. Why take on work that others are willing to do? Very rarely do I decline an offer for assistance if it doesn't threaten my conscience.

4. I prioritize my to-do list hourly. Forget prioritizing once at the beginning of the day. Who knows what can transpire in a morning or afternoon? The question really should be, "What needs to be done now?" This question has replaced, "What would be most enjoyable?" or "What do I feel like doing?"

5. I (am learning to) say, "no." Not as in, "I don't want to help you" or "You don't deserve my time." Those would be inappropriate responses to someone with a need. "No" can sometimes mean, "This isn't in the best interest for either of us. Here is my proposed solution."

And those are my strategies . . . for now.