Technology TransactionsCrucial VS Not Crucial
We all have “too much to do.” True? Sure ‘nuf. And that says a lot of
good things about you. That you have “too much to do” suggests that a
lot of people have entrusted much confidence in you. I mean, people who
are drifting about early each afternoon begging co-workers for something
to do, may not have earned that confidence from others. And this applies
not only in our work lives but in our personal lives as well.
But this creates a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s great to
enjoy the confidence of others. Yet, having “too much to do” often
creates the stresses and distresses that may reduce your overall
productivity.
I divide our responsibilities into two categories: “Crucial” and “Not
Crucial items give us the “biggest bang for the buck” for the
time spent and is the most productive use of our time. It is the logical
use of our time. “Not Crucial” gives us emotional relief. It’s doing the
little things, the junk mail, desk dusting and the like, that, while
necessary, do not really advance our daily success very much.
When we accomplish the “crucial” things in our life we are doing
“business” v “busyness.” We are making progress versus wheel spinning.
Have you ever had a day when you were busy the whole daylong but when
you got home that night you knew you had not accomplished a darn thing?
(We can fool the world sometimes but we cannot fool ourselves.)
Doing the crucial things builds up our self-esteem and our motivation
level. Ever notice when you’ve had a really productive “crucial” day how
that positive momentum carried forward into your evening hours? You are
more inclined to do the woodworking, spend time with the kids, or work
on hobbies, when you’ve had a great day. But when you’ve had one of
those “not crucial” days, the motivation and momentum levels are reduced
and when we come home that night, many of us just want to block out the
day with that all important exercise, “click, click, click”, the sound
of the TV remote device, surfing us through a multitude of channels that
fail to grab our interest.
I really believe that most people, intuitively and instinctively, want
to be good time managers. It makes sense. The better we manage our time,
the more results we will enjoy. It’s the logical choice.
So let’s say it’s the start of your workweek and you have a lot of
“things to do”, some of which are “crucial”, some “not crucial”.
Intuitively and instinctively you and I want to be good time managers.
Therefore, where does our attention gravitate towards? Do we focus on
the “crucial” or “not crucial” tasks? The “crucial”? Sure! Logic tells
us that. The more “crucial” things we do, the more productivity and
success we enjoy.
But, you know what? When given a choice between “crucial” and “not
crucial” items, we will almost always do the “not crucial” items and
ignore the “crucial” items in spite of the fact that we all want to be
productive in our day.
Why?
Because we are driven more by emotion rather than logic.
You see the “crucial” items are typically longer and harder to
accomplish. The “not crucial” items are typically more quick and fun and
emotionally satisfying.
We need to get over to the “crucial” side more often to increase our
personal productivity.