Important vs. Urgent

A client/consultant and I recently discussed the fact that so many owners and managers are totally reactive. They are forever dealing with urgent matters and are in a crises mode. This could be partly due to the fact that many have not learned to delegate in depth. However, it is possibly equally true that so many are not in the habit of putting time aside for proactively planning, learning and asking “what if” questions aimed at taking preventive action.

Stephen Covey developed a thought-provoking diagramme which depicts four quadrants. In which quadrants are you most of the time?

Covey’s quadrants cover a horizontal axis of Urgent and Not Urgent, from left to right, and a vertical axis of Important at the top and Not Important at the bottom.

Covey found that most managers find themselves about 90% of the time in the top left Quadrant I Urgent. People who are virtually always in this mode are crisis managers, problem-minded people, last-minute deadline-driven producers, and fire-fighters who start their days here. They are reactive and respond  like mad to crises, calls, e-mails, faxes, pressing problems, deadline-driven projects, meetings, and preparations for meetings. If you are here, how often do you set aside time to achieve anything that makes a real difference?

Urgency and lots of activity provides a false sense of personal importance, of being in demand and of being very busy – while not always achieving much which makes a difference to your business and in some weeks, very little. Should you find that this is where you spend most of your time, make an effort to be more in Quadrant II, and ensure that your work in Quadrant I is linked as much as possible to your important objectives in Quadrant II.

Quadrant II Not Urgent/Important at the top right is strategic. It demands proactivity. It demands planning and thinking. Gradually increase your time spent here to 30% or more of your day (instead of 1% or less). Start your day here and develop and check your monthly planning and Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) emanating from your Strategic Plan.

Each day give attention to one goal that builds your business. Ensure that you have one or two very important appointments/relationship building events each day. Check whether what you are doing builds your personal and business growth.

Do some preventative thinking and work to avoid crises. Heed the Pareto Principle: 20% of what you do generates 80% of your results. Are you busy at least part of each day with something that is not routine? Make formal one or two-hour appointments with important objectives which require quality thinking, as this is the key to personal effectiveness. The more uninterrupted focused time you spend here each day, the less crises or problems you will have in Quadrant I.

Effective opportunity-minded people, true leaders and managers ensure that they block time in their diaries each day for work in this important quadrant.

Quadrant III Urgent/Not Important, at the bottom left, is interesting. Because of stress caused in Quadrant I, many flee to Quadrant III to keep themselves busy or, worse, they spend time in the IV Not Urgent/Not Important. In Quadrant III you tend to allow interruptions which you should not allow, make minor phone calls, handle too many e-mails and read trivial information. You keep yourself busy. You hold or attend ineffective meetings, that give you the feeling you are doing something. You involve yourself in seemingly important but time-consuming work e.g. generating long reports about past events, not working smart and doing things “because this is how we do it”.

You should get out of this Quadrant.

Individuals who lounge in IV Not Urgent/Not Important, at the bottom right, busy themselves with trivia work, junk mail, time wasters, pleasant activities, useless telephone calls and possibly with aimless visits in other people’s offices.

Can anyone justify spending time in this quadrant?

Covey observes that people who spend more time in II Not Urgent/Important tend to find that their lives have fewer crises in I Urgent/Important. They also find that they spend virtually no time in the bottom quadrants.

I could send you a diagramme. Contact me via www.abplan.co.za.  Print the diagramme and a few times each day with a pen mark the quadrant where you are. Check the quadrants at the end of the week. The result might motivate you to reassess your work content and quadrant preferences.

It assisted me.

Albert