The Tyranny of the Urgent

2015-07-15T17:19:38-04:00

In his booklet entitled “Tyranny of the Urgent,” Charles Hummel describes a phenomenon that I think all who have served in the military can identify with: getting so caught up in urgent tasks that we never get around to important things. Having worked in and for the Army for 40 years, I am confident when I say that this happens in the military. Many times the urgency is dictated from above, but not always. Sometimes I decide for myself that something is urgent – an incoming phone call, for example – when I really could let the call go to voicemail and drive on with something else that might be truly important.

Hummel compares time and money as resources. While we all may have different amounts of money, time is not a resource in the same sense. For example, PVT Snuffy and GEN Dempsey make vastly different amounts of money, but both have just 24 hours each day; no more and no less.

Prioritizing and deciding how we will spend our time become very important activities. And they are activities that many people completely ignore. Time is a finite resource, so we should budget our time very carefully.

Hummel’s suggestion for budgeting time is first to set priorities, and then determine how to budget time. He recommends breaking your day into 30-minute segments and writing down what you do during each 30-minute block. Then, after a few days, take a look at how you’ve spent your time and decide if you could/should spend it more wisely, based on your priorities. Hummel’s recommendations are oh-so-very close to Stephen Covey’s in “Putting First Things First,” Habit #3 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” which is a best-selling book about being all you can be.

Covey describes putting first things first as a matter of personal management. He quotes E.M. Gray’s “The Common Denominator of Success,” which says “the successful person has the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do. They [successful people] don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.” Now, isn’t that a quote that most of us who have served in the military can relate to? I say it is. Sometimes in the military you just have to suck it up and drive on, even when it does suck. That’s how people succeed. I remember well the motivational signs in the company area of C, 1/504, 82d Airborne. One that I will never forget is this: “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” I know it’s cliché, but still.

Covey’s Habit #3 is essentially managing tasks and time based on priorities. He uses the included quadrant diagram to help identify which activities we should put first.

The quadrants are pretty much self-explanatory. Quadrant I is where a lot of folks spend a lot of time – putting out fires. These are the crises and pressing problems of life that demand our attention: Hummel’s tyranny of the urgent. Quadrant II contains important, but not urgent activities; things like planning, mentoring, networking, working out, and relationship building. Quadrant III activities are urgent, but not important; interruptions are an example. And Quadrant iV is where unimportant and not urgent activities reside. These are time wasters, busy work, and pleasant activities (think video games).

According to this model, the secret to success in time and life management is to be mindful about spending as much time as possible in Quadrant II. Although we can’t always avoid the urgent and important (Quadrant I) activities, we can carve out time in our lives and schedules for Quadrant II activities, which is what Covey recommends in 7 Habits.

Covey also recommends that we use a time management tool, such as a planner, to ensure we include time in our busy schedules for Quadrant II activities. He recommends that as we plan our weeks (and he does recommend planning a week at a time for the short-term), that we take care to keep the following points in mind:

- Be coherent: Include a “harmony between vision and mission, roles and goals, priorities and plans, and desires and discipline.”

- Be balanced: Identify your roles (leader, parent, friend, mentor, etc.) and ensure you plan time for each role you have.

- Have a quadrant II focus: This is where Covey says we should plan weekly and not daily, because he says that planning day-to-day only helps you “organize crises and busywork.”

- Include a people dimension: Think in terms of people, not just time; and plan to be effective (in dealing with people), not just efficient (in dealing with time).

- Be flexible: “Your planning tool should be your servant, never your master.”

An excellent quote from Covey on this entire planning tool discussion is that “the key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” That’s the essence of being an effective manager of time and life, and I think implementing something like this approach made me a better Soldier, better Warrant Officer, better leader, better father, better friend … the list goes on and on.

What do you think? Are you willing to put a little thought and planning into managing your priorities, your time, and your life? Would you like to free yourself from the tyranny of the urgent? It’s possible. It requires you to focus and to be mindful of how you are spending your time. If nothing else, at least consider those quadrant II activities; plan to include them in your schedule. They’re important, even if they’re not urgent!

Response by Maj Chris Nelson made Jul 15 at 2015 5:56 PM

2015-07-15T17:56:46-04:00

Very good post! I agree with much of the prioritization and time management concepts. I have come to my own terms with my job....that which I can do today, I will....that which I can not do today, I will do tomorrow. It will just be what it is, but Flexibility to change my priorities is essential.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Jul 15 at 2015 6:27 PM

2015-07-15T18:27:21-04:00

This is actually a lesson I used to give employees.

"Nothing (no task) takes less than an hour"

No matter what you are planning, assume it will take an hour. Little things associated with it, even if it is a 15 minute task will eat up other pieces of that time, and you will end up spending an hour doing it. So plan at least an hour for every task.

So at the beginning of the day, write down the top 10 things you need to do, put them in order by priority, then shift the time sensitive ones to wherever they need to go. If you can get 6-8 of those things done, you're doing good. If you get all 10 done, your doing great, because you can make your list for the following day.

Response by LTC Richard Wasserman made Jul 15 at 2015 11:39 PM

2015-07-15T23:39:35-04:00

If everything is important----Then nothing is important or has priority.

Response by PO1 Ron Clark made Jul 16 at 2015 3:32 PM

2015-07-16T15:32:50-04:00

Something I learned being assigned to a ship, is that our Executive Officer establishes a plan of the day. To be read by all hands daily an is as effective as a lawful order as issued by the Commanding Officer, in the POD it details what the plan is for that day down to the last minutes of the day. Each day if we establish a plan or goals and stick to the plan, after completing a week you look back at each goal accomplished you get a pretty clear picture of where you are to completing your long range goal. If you havent completed any of the goals in the plan then you probably have a plan that's not so great. If you accomplish the plans on schedule or ahead of schedule you can tweek that plan the complete whatever mission you have established for time management. Time management is very important in completion of any goal/plan you have. Most times you can apply that plan of the day to the accomplishments of long range goals in life. You can look back on the plan and see where you are and what you have achieved by sticking to the plan. I hope this makes sense. Because if we didnt have that plan of the day, then we would have just a bunch of different things to do, and in no type or order or unity. Only with an effective plan can we accomplish anything at all.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 21 at 2015 9:08 AM

2015-07-21T09:08:38-04:00

Mr. Montgomery,
In response to your question, I would like to make a brief observation and pose a related question to all.

I have noticed there are routinely two major detractors from my ability to manage time effectively. The first is one I actually welcome and it comes in the form of mentoring my subordinates or assisting my peers and coworkers. This is most often done on the fly and cannot be planned for. I rarely turn away someone who is looking for help or guidance and have found these unplanned interactions are where both I, and those who work for me, learn more than anywhere else. I am hesitant to make a change that limits these opportunities because of the benefit they represent. Maintaining an open door also goes a very long way toward keeping me tied in with daily operations that could require my intervention or guidance.

The second detractor comes from those I (humorously) refer to as work assassins. These are the folks who chronically spend their day cruising the halls and making unscheduled social calls with people along the way. It may only be 15 minutes, but those 15 minute blocks can add up to a significant amount of time, not to mention the resulting disruption in workflow and momentum. However, I know this tends to be an inherent hazard of keeping an open door and being approachable.

I have considered or tried several options for overcoming these obstacles such as taking time with a closed door or announcing dedicated hours where I try to focus on my own tasks without interruption. I have also considered having a sign or some other visual cue to let others know when I am engaged but that still allows me to remain aware of what’s going on around me. I have found little enduring success in any of these efforts. I believe planning my week as Mr. Covey suggests would be beneficial but I am pretty certain that without some forcing function, that plan would go wildly awry sometime around 0930 on Monday mornings.

In light of this, I would like to ask if anyone has found success using practical control measures to segregate time for planned focus on those Quadrant II-type activities without becoming unapproachable or detached from their mission and without succumbing to the chaos of an ordinary military workweek. What has or has not worked for you, a coworker, or a supervisor?