Urgent vs Important

21 Feb 2003

In the last year of my bachelor's degree, Ray McCall said something that's stuck with me: the trick in life is keeping what's urgent from taking priority over what's important. Bob's comments on Urgent and Important axes is a more refined picture:

I think the key to managing time effectively is finding the things that are both urgent and important and doing those. Defer the items that aren't urgent and important. I find I have the most mental stability when I accomplish things in the following priority order:

1. Urgent and important
2. Important
3. Urgent
4. Luxury