The true cost of quadrant 4

Colleagues,

Yesterday I wrote about being distracted from making progress on my greenhouse. I was more motivated to cut down some shrubs because it would lead to instant visual improvement. The issue was that the greenhouse was important though not urgent (quadrant 2) and the creation of open space was neither important nor urgent (quadrant 4). 

In addition to cutting down the bushes, I would have had to spend time disposing of them and digging out the roots. Cutting them down was the easiest and most dramatic part, but it would have been followed by a lot more work. All that time and energy would have prevented me from working on the greenhouse. Ironically, in the total time it would have taken me to cut, dig out, and dispose of the bushes, I would have been able to get most of the concrete form built!
 
This is one the dangers of distractions. The initial effort may be low and yield good results, but the clean-up and follow through can be arduous and can prevent us from focusing on more important things.
 
Think about some of the efforts going on in your organization.
 
Are you cutting down bushes when you should be building a foundation for your greenhouse?
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick