Choosing the "Important" Over the "Urgent"

Kitty J. Boitnott, Ph.D., NBCT, RScP

Life Strategies and Stress Management Coach

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.” ~ Stephen Covey

There is no video message for today. I am away from home and my equipment because I am sitting in a hospital room with my mother who took ill last week.

My need to be here with my mother reminded me of Stephen Covey's observation that "Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important." Isn't that the truth?

I probably don't have to tell you that I stay busy. Last week, in fact, I was in the midst of launching my new  eBook, Stressed, Stretched, and Just Plain Overwhelmed: A Guide to Managing Your Stress and Creating a Greater Sense of Work-Life Balance, and I got tied up in the busyness of getting that goal completed. (If you haven't downloaded your copy yet, use this link to access it. It's free.)

As I was going about my own busy life, however, my mother was getting sick, and by mid-week last week, she was in the hospital. I needed to drop the more urgent activities that I had planned in order to get home and be with my family.

As I sit here in my mother's hospital room, we are not sure what the immediate future entails. There is talk of surgery. We pray that it won't come to that because she is weak and frail and she is 86 years old. Surgery would be a great risk for her. Fortunately, her surgeon is not eager to operate unless he perceives that she absolutely needs it. We are praying she won't need it, but time will tell.

So, no video message. I am not sure how long it might be before there is one. I will be going back to my place sometime this week to pack up things I need for the longer term. I may decide to bring the equipment with me. I may not. I know you will understand either way.

Family comes under the heading of what is important. When someone in your family is ill, that takes precedence over everything else, especially when that someone is a parent. We all have this to deal with at some point in our lives. 

Fortunately, for the moment she is stable. As I sit here writing this message for Tuesday morning, we are chatting on mundane matters. Neither of us is talking about what surgery might mean. We are both taking it a day at a time. And I am in the lucky position of being able to work wherever I have a wi-fi connection. How great is that?

So, my message for today is simply to ask you:  Are you paying attention to your own priorities, and are you making sure you are paying heed to what is important as opposed to what is merely urgent? I hope so. And if you aren't sure, let me know. Maybe that is something that we could work on together.

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If you or a friend or family member is looking for a job because they are out of work, between jobs, or underemployed, contact me for information about the “disruptive job search” methodology that is taught at CareerHMO, the “cure for chronic career pain.” I am now working as a career coach with CareerHMO and am looking for people who could benefit from the program and the fantastic resources that are available through CareerHMO and its sister site, Careerealism.