11. Outrunning the Urgent – Part 5

Outrunning the Urgent – Part 5

Thus far, we have explored three of the five intelligent considerations that super-productive subject themselves to when faced with a task i.e.

1. Must this be done at all?
2. Must this be done manually?
3. Must this be done by me? Or, am I the best person to do this?
We’ll now look at the last two considerations to see what it takes to outrun the urgent.

Here’s the fourth consideration…

4. Must I do it now?

In Kaira’s example, you will notice she never asked for on a deadline for Vishnu’s task. All Vishnu said that the presentation was for an important client meeting that was ‘coming up’. Yet, Kaira prioritized that task over critical deliverables that did have a clear deadline. In hindsight, it’s easy to blame Kaira on that oversight, but truth be told, this happens to a lot of people all the time. In the absence of a mental check-list or reckoner, it’s hard to spot faulty reprioritization when it’s actually happening.

So here’s what you might consider if you run into an adhoc task must be done manually by you. Firstly, when is it due really? And second, can you complete the task in three to five minutes? If yes, go for it and finish it off. If no, you must reschedule that task for later in favor of other tasks you’re working on that have been planned for. You might even need to renegotiate deadlines here.

So, it pays to take a hard look at a task that comes at you out of the blue that has passed the first three considerations, and ask, does this really need to happen now? Can I complete the task in three or five minutes? Can I reschedule this for later on/renegotiate deadlines?

If the answer here is ‘Yes’, we arrive at the last question on the consideration list…

5. How do I protect/maximise time on what is my absolute priority?

You now have a task that has to get done, manually, by you and now. That makes it a genuine, absolute priority.

It is time to do that very thing that you know you should be doing. And now you know for sure that it is precisely the thing you should be doing at that moment.

Your job is simply to do the next most Significant thing and not to worry about anything else. You don’t have to worry about everything you have to do. You only have to focus on taking the next step. Everything else is a distraction.

It sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet it’s the one thing most people struggle to do. Remember, you can’t really have multiple priorities. Whatever you are choosing to spend your time doing at any given moment is your priority—at that moment. So summon all your focus and be where you are right now. And if the thing you are doing now is not what you really want your priority to be, then Eliminate that thing in front of you, Automate it, Delegate it, Park it or Complete it as fast as possible and sprint over to the thing you know you should be doing!

That’s how super-achievers function. And that’s how they do what few others can do – create more time.

In Conclusion
Once you know that the task in front of you cannot be eliminated, automated, done by anyone else or parked for later, you know you have a genuine priority on your hands. And the way to proceed is to knuckle down and take action, and then move on to your next priority as fast as possible. This is how the five considerations can give you the confidence and conviction to help you determine what your next priority is—and what it should be, and manage non-significant tasks appropriately.

We’re not trying to say that non-significant routine work be completely ignored. Everything you cannot eliminate, but can automate will need work to be done on it. If automation is not possible, but it can be parked for later, it needs to be scheduled. And that requires foresight and forethought. We’ve got you covered there too, and we’ll look at scheduling your day in the next lesson.