If last month was about recognising when you’re trapped in firefighting mode, this month we’re taking the next step: what to do when everything feels urgent.
When the to-do list is ever-growing, the inbox is overflowing, and the demands on your time keep multiplying, it’s easy to fall into the trap of reacting to whatever (or whoever) shouts the loudest.
But urgency and importance are not the same thing. Without clarity, you risk spending all your energy on tasks that move you sideways rather than forward.
This is where the power of priorities comes in.
Why Prioritisation Feels Hard
The truth is, our brains are wired to respond to urgency. A ringing phone, a new email notification, or a team member or client request all trigger a sense of importance, even if in reality, those things aren’t aligned with your bigger goals. That’s why without a framework for focus, everything feels equally critical.
The result?
Stress, overwhelm, and often, a nagging feeling that despite being “busy,” you’re not making progress where it matters most.
The power of FOCUS
When I work with clients, I help them to gain clarity on what is the most important so that they can FOCUS on those things with the sharp focus of a laser, rather than a scattergun approach, meaning that time and energy are not wasted. It seems counter-productive and certainly isn’t intuitive to do this, but it is about pressing ‘pause’ even for a short time, to allow you to take a step back, and separate the “urgent” from the “important.”
Instead of letting urgency dictate your day, you take control by intentionally choosing what deserves your energy and attention at any time.
Here are some practical ways to do this:
1. Define What “Important” Means for You
Importance comes from alignment with your vision, goals, and value and not from how loud or immediate a task feels. Ask yourself:
- Does this move me closer to my long-term objectives?
- What would happen if I didn’t do this today?
- Am I working on someone else’s priorities, or my own?
2. Use the Urgent–Important Matrix
For those who like more structure then this tool, made famous by Stephen Covey, helps you categorise tasks:
- Urgent & Important: Deal with it.
- Important but Not Urgent: Delay and schedule it (this is where long-term progress lives)
- Urgent but Not Important: Delegate or minimise.
- Neither: Drop it.
Even spending 10 minutes mapping your tasks into this framework can give you surprising clarity.
3. Limit Your “Must-Dos”
Each day, identify the one to three things that matter most and must be done. These put simply are your non-negotiables that you have to complete in that day. If everything else falls off the list, then at least you having completed these gives you a sense of accomplishment and if you aim for at least one of them to be out of the important but not urgent quadrant then it will also move you forward.
4. Build in Reflection Time
Without reflection, you’ll drift back into firefighting which I shared more about last month. Weekly check-ins with yourself (and your team) will help to keep priorities fresh, realistic, and aligned with what matters most.
The Power of Saying “No” (or “Not Now”)
It is also important here to mention that focusing on what’s most important often requires the courage to say no. I understand thatfor many people this isn’t comfortable, you can read more about why and how we are all different in our focus in this expanded version of the blog, but it is important to remember that every time you say yes to something, you are indirectly saying no to something else anyway.
Also, saying no doesn’t mean shutting down opportunities, it just means that you are better able to protect your time and energy for what truly matters.
Sometimes, a “not now” is just as powerful as a “no,”freeing you to revisit ideas at the right time.
Final Thought
The reality is you can’t and shouldn’t do everything. But you can do the things that only you can do and, more importantly, those that matter the most. By gaining FOCUS and harnessing the power of priorities, you shift from being busy to being productive. You trade firefighting for progress.
So, next time everything feels urgent, pause, step back and ask yourself: What’s truly important here?
And here’s something to think about and share: Which one priority, if you focused on it this week, would make the biggest difference in your life or work?
