Comments on: Putting Off the Important Things

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:54:23 +0000

In the spirit of giving credit to the originator — this urgent/not urgent and important/not important way of framing things comes from Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He noted (as you do) that many people tend to prioritize things that seem urgent even when they’re not important, and to neglect things that are important but don’t seem urgent. It’s an excellent book, for those who don’t know it.

By: Meghan

Meghan — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:46:08 +0000

It seems as if you should have credited “The seven habits of highly effective people” since this is all taken from that book.

By: brett

brett — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:44:42 +0000

Good Stuff. I also use the Brian Tracy “Important-Urgent” strategy (to varying levels of success).

I think that personal time management is something we desperately need to teach our children.

By: Jules

Jules — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:18:21 +0000

Luxury is having a job where you can make those kinds of priorities. Everything I do at work is important. It’s merely a question of when it needs to be done by.

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:32:52 +0000

I quit a long time ago considering a ringing phone urgent if it isn’t my office telephone.

And as I’ve commented before, you don’t have to spend every moment of your life being productive. Idle down time is just as important (& sometimes urgent) as doing paperwork or making progress on personal projects.

By: prodgod

prodgod — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:18:15 +0000

@Jackowick: LOVE the 5-5-5 suggestion. I’m going to start using it.

By: Jackowick

Jackowick — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:44:00 +0000

You can read and read and read, but you have to follow through on whatever system you want to use.

I can name a number of friends/coworkers who have aall kinds of name brand/catch phrase books on working and living smarter, but when it comes down to the crisis situations and decisions, more often than not, they fail because they don’t stick to it.

I like to ask people “when does this have to be done” and if they say ASAP, I ask them 5 minutes, 5 o’clock or five days… that usually resets the priority or shuts them up haha…

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:13:58 +0000

Sounds like a mix of GTD with the 7 Habits. I’ve just started working with a flavour of GTD too. The key is really setting aside the time each week to review, otherwise tasks just start piling up again. And that’s the part I’ve got to work on right now, figuring out where in the week the review part should go.

By: krantcents

krantcents — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:44:14 +0000

I usually start with a list and prioritize it. I enjoy a good feeling of accomplishment everytime O cross something off.