Too often the work that gets our attention is the urgent, rather than the important. Sometimes the urgent tasks can also be important, but too often we’re sidelining the truly crucial projects for the stuff that just seems like a fire drill today.
A useful exercise in priorities is laying out your possible projects side by side, and asking – “which of these, completed, will either make the others easier to complete or irrelevant?”
Doing this forces the important work to bubble to the top, while distractions and merely urgent tasks can be seen more plainly.