In any given day it is inevitable that there is more work in front of us than can be completed in that day, far far from it. So we need to make choices about what we do today and what we leave for another time.

There are lots of ways of approaching this, some of which we have covered elsewhere on these blogs (search “productivity”), but a really simple one I want to introduce is the Urgent/Important grid. First grabbed as a concept by President Eisenhower, it was Stephen Covey [he who wrote 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – obviously available through our wonderful University Bookshop] who popularised it.

It’s a way of simply identifying whether any given task is any combination of urgent or important, both, or neither. We often fall into the trap of thinking anything that is urgent – i.e. pressing on us now, also makes it important. Sometimes it is, but often its not. And untangling the two can help you feel like you are in control of your work, rather than it controlling you. Yes, you, I can see that knowing look on your face. Remember:

Urgent = has a time imperative

Important = will have a big impact

These two are not the same. So grab a piece of paper and a pen and fill in some of your tasks into these boxes. The hardest one might be to distinguish between important and not important. Maybe ask yourself – important to whom? What kind of impact will it have if it do or don’t do it? Which of my broader goals is this fulfilling?

Then notice any patterns – is one box fuller than the others? What might that be telling you? Are all those tasks really that urgent? How urgent is urgent? Do you keeping emptying and then refilling one box? Are you spending time in the boxes that will have the most impact as well as giving you the most satisfaction?

As ever, a balance is important. The boxes of most impact are, of course, those in the important row. The important/not urgent box is the one that often suffers…and includes things like personal and professional development, planning, relationship building etc. All completely essential in my book but they often get squeezed.

Minimise the unimportant as far as you are able, recognising that might not be completely in your control. But even if it isn’t, can you question how it fits with your goals, whether you are the right person, whether the time pressure is reasonable given your other priorities. Often we accept someone else’s timeline as fixed, but maybe they just plucked a date out of the air – ask questions, be honest about your capacity, learn to say no :-).

If you want to find out more there are plenty of resources online that are worth a look including this from Mindtools and this from the Coaching Tools Company.

https://youtu.be/Caw-TRFIqFk

Juliet Flynn, Organisational and People Development Team