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Why do we put off the really important things?

Guest post by: Craig Jennings

Article Overview: You're busy all the time, too busy. And yet, there are many really important things you never seem to have time to get around to. I'm a NY Business Coach and entrepreneurs and business owners use me regularly to: organize their business, help them manage their time efficiently, make better decisions, and, yes, make much more money. Have a look at my article and see if you, like so many of the rest of us, often fall into the "Not Urgent, But Important" trap.

Why do we put off the really important things?

Why do we put off the really important things? and get buried in what Michael Gerber calls "doin' it, doin' it, doin' it!"

Dr. Steven Covey of "Seven Habits" fame made it clear.

If you divided your tasks into the 4 groups below, which order do you think you'd tackle them in?

Urgent and Important #1

Urgent and Not Important #2

Not Urgent and Not Important #3

Important But Not Urgent #4



Covey says that this is the order we usually choose. I have to agree with him. It's my experience as a NY Business Coach, and as an entrepreneur myself, that I do the urgent stuff first, and I actually save the high value, high profit, high important stuff for later. You and I know that "later" doesn't always come! It just stays "later!" And, of course, the Important But Not Urgent tasks represent a major and critical opportunity ignored.

Why we do it? Covey's explanation: If it's urgent and important, we usually do that first. But, the category of Not Important is less consequential, perhaps less confronting than Important, so we do the easy stuff, numbers 2 and 3 next, put off number 4 for last, sometimes forever!

Insane? Sure. But think about it - how many Important But Not Urgent (IBNU) issues in your business have you been too busy to get around to? Things like business planning. How about making cold calls? How about re-writing your website, or overhauling your marketing for the new year? Yep. Me too, all of us. I'm a small business coach, working in NY. Those above are my IBNUs and those of some 25 entrepreneurs I work with every month. It's a big trap, and all of us fall in it now and again!

In response to this wisdom, a good friend, Mark Rickard, who runs a list marketing organization and is concerned about how he spends his time, has customized his desk blotter. He's divided it into a huge grid of 4 squares, as above. And, as work comes in, he piles each up on the appropriate square. He swears that when you recognize IBNUs beforehand, you tackle them more often.

Clearly you're using your time better if you focus on your IBNUs before you do things which are neither important or urgent.

Do you think you could improve your productivity? Would you be willing to accept some help looking at what you're doing, and what you're deferring?

Please feel free to contact me!

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Article Tags: business coach, business owners, decisions, important things, ny business



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