Urgent and Important: What’s the difference?
Whether you’re new to time management or a seasoned veteran, you’ve definitely experienced an overwhelming feeling or panic when addressing a very long to-do list. You’ve likely asked yourself:
“So, where do I even start with this to-do list?”
“Can I actually get any of this done?”
“What is due first?”
The last question, What is due first?, is a trap! At first it appears helpful as it implies priority, but in reality it can steer you away from your goals by routing your attention to things that are only urgent and not important.
Urgent and important: Similar but not the same
You’re likely asking yourself, What’s the difference between urgent and important? This is a critical distinction to make as you work toward becoming the most effective and productive version of yourself. So, let’s break down the difference between urgent and important.
Think of importance as a label or category for a task or activity aligned with or supporting a larger goal or objective. On the other hand, urgent is a label or category that simply indicates an activity is time-sensitive and requires your immediate attention.
The Eisenhower Decision Matrix
When organizing your to-do list and managing your time, we recommend using the Eisenhower Decision Matrix to discover which tasks are urgent, which are important, and which sit somewhere in between.
This matrix was created by the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, as a way of properly planning, prioritizing, scheduling and managing time. Invented by the five-star general and former president, the principle comes well vetted, and was an integral tool in helping Eisenhower manage his time throughout his career.
Note that there are four quadrants below which indicate urgency AND importance. Each quadrant helps assign priority to your to-do list and tasks.
Let’s use an example to help us better understand how to leverage the matrix and their quadrants. Imagine a small business owner named Jackie. Jackie owns a small cafe in Queens, NY and aims to increase awareness of the business to drive sales by 50% from last year. Jackie is using the matrix to prioritize today’s to-do list.
Q1: Urgent and important
These activities or tasks are things that come up, which must be solved quickly and are of consequence to one’s goals.
Ex. Fix the espresso machine
This is both important and urgent because it directly impacts revenue and is used daily.
- No espresso means a loss in revenue.
- Jackie categorizes this as a Q1 priority and sets time aside first thing this morning to fix it.
Q2: Important and not urgent
This is the prioritization sweet spot. These are the things that, if we do them, will bring us closer to our goals and objectives.
Ex. Work on a marketing strategy to drive awareness of the cafe
This is important as it aligns with her overall business goal but it’s not urgent as her day-to-day business operations will not suffer if not immediately addressed.
- If she continues to put this task off however, she will not complete her goal of increasing awareness of the cafe or improving sales before the year’s end.
- Jackie categorizes this as a Q2 priority and sets aside a few hours over the course of the week to complete it.
Q3: Not important and urgent
These are things we feel compelled to do immediately but are of no real consequence to our goals or objectives. For example, reading email constantly, or answering a phone call.
Ex. Take a meeting with new coffee roaster
A sales representative from a new coffee roaster comes by the cafe to interest Jackie in a new coffee brand. He has 30-minutes to chat before he moves on to the next cafe.
- Jackie is interested in securing another premium, less costly coffee brand. However, this is not a prime concern for her.
- This would also require her immediate attention in order to speak with the sales rep before he leaves.
- Jackie recognizes that this is a Q3 priority and should not occupy her time, so instead delegates it to her cafe manager.
Q4: Not important and not urgent.
These are usually the activities or things that add little or no value to our success or goals. They can be professional or personal.
Ex. Clean up the cafe’s back room
The cafe’s back room is used to store miscellaneous items like decorations and cleaning supplies. It is currently very messy and can use a clean up.
- This task is inconsequential to the business running smoothly or Jackie achieving her business goals.
- Jackie understands that this is a Q4 priority and decides to erase the task from her list.
The takeaway
By using the Eisenhower Decision Matrix, you can shift time you’ve allocated in other quadrants, like not important and urgent (Q1) or not important and not urgent (Q4), to the most important quadrant, important and not urgent (Q2). Eventually when we spend time on the important things in Q2, the time spent on activities in Q1 will decrease.
In the example above we talked about Jackie wanting to increase awareness of the business to drive 50% more revenue. With an increase in revenue, Jackie can afford a higher quality coffee machine, minimizing the number of times it may need to be fixed and time spent on tasks in Q1.
Helpful prioritization tips:
When organizing your to-do list, consider the following:
Avoid using due dates whenever possible
Instead of concentrating on when a task is due, focus on task importance. This method allows you to make steady progress on the things that will move the needle on your goals. A responsive time manager like Yomez prevents you from wasting time on moving due dates around in your dash. However, you can’t always avoid due dates. In those instances, lean into the need and remember to come back to your broader objectives.s.
Sprint toward your goals
Software developers use sprints as a framework for progressing on a project. It is a two week period, in which a person or team works toward a specific goal. In this process, one outlines essential tasks. Then, decide which tasks are to complete in the upcoming sprint. A person or team is responsible for accomplishing those tasks within the allotted time, repeating the process until project completion. By committing to your sprint you focus on what’s important, thus progressing quickly.
Keep your eye on the prize
Remind yourself of the results and outcomes you seek to stay motivated and on track.
How Yomez can help with productivity
With Yomez you can list out everything you need to accomplish and assign priorities and due dates. Yomez assesses your new tasks, priorities, and deadlines—in addition to your existing schedule—and automatically organizes your tasks. Yomez even alerts you to any shortages in available time that may prevent you from meeting deadlines.
If you’re not already using Yomez, you can sign up today for our beta version to start making the most of your day. It’s free!
