The Impact of Urgency

Colleagues,
 
Yesterday I shared my goal of having my book completed by June 22 and suggested that the explanation for failure came in the form of the Eisenhower Matrix and the principles of leverage.

The Eisenhower Matrix juxtaposes the urgent and the important. Ideally, we work in quadrant 2 (important but not urgent), but most of us spend a lot of time in quadrants 1 (important and urgent) and 3 (not important but urgent). 
 
It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between quadrants 1 and 3 because things that are urgent feel important. Also, let’s 

acknowledge that there are degrees of importance. So, what happens when a very important quadrant 2 task competes with a moderately important quadrant 1 task?
 
I had been making steady progress on the book, but in January I realized that it needed to be restructured. This actually increased my momentum and by the end of February I had rewritten 10,000 words, which meant I was almost hallway done.I was on the road the first two weeks of March and then took a week off to hike the Foothills Trail with Pam. Then came COVID.
 
I wanted to do something to support people during this trying time, so I moved from a weekly l to a daily email. A daily email always part of my plan, but it was supposed to come after the book. It was important, but not as important as the book.
 
However, with COVID, the daily email moved from quadrant 2 to quadrant 1 by becoming urgent, so the book got left behind.
 
But why the shift? Why did I respond to COVID by shifting my writing focus? The answer lies in the principles of leverage, which we will look at tomorrow.
 
Do good and be well,
 
Frederick