Urgency is everywhere; texts, emails, social media notifications, work emergencies, and new projects. It’s even worse for leaders. The more you lead over the more urgent items will come to you. So you’ll need to be even more disciplined to pursue what is actually important, not just what’s urgent.

As I coach business, church, and non-profit leaders I see the same issues around time continue to come up. We’re all wrestling with it, but some have found a system to pursue the important over the urgent. Unfortunately, others haven’t found a system, and they will continue to be ruddered by their emotions instead of their priorities.

Here are three ways to pursue the important over the urgent…

Create a purpose for each day. Each day should have a unique purpose that looks different from the other days. This is how you know what you’re aiming at that day and whether you’ve accomplished it.

Plan your week ahead of time. If you’re planning your day as you go or even that morning it’s too late. The emotions have already hit and you already feel behind. Plan your week proactively with your priorities instead of reactively with your emotions. No more defense; play offense!

Block off time for deep work. You need to reserve blocks of time for things that require deep thinking and creativity. If you wonder how that big project is going to get done this is how. You’ll have to eliminate urgent distractions for a time and focus on your important work.

We want to help your overwhelm go down and your productivity go up!  This stuff is simple, but it’s hard to do. You have to create a system and repeat it every single week. Years ago I created a tool to structure my weeks called the Weekly Planning Grid. It has been so helpful to me, leaders we are coaching and those who have downloaded it from our site.

Don’t get sucked into the urgent again this week! We’re here to help you GET HEALTHY + REACH MORE IMPACT.