Stay Out of the Incubator of Idiocy
Sometimes it’s important to get a task finished as quickly as possible.
Urgent tasks might include fixing a water leak.
Or taking care of a friend or family member or a child who is suddenly sick.
Or putting out a fire.
That’s true urgency. Lives are on the line.
But, I do assert that this isn’t as common of a scenario as we often think.
Or at least it shouldn’t be.
Here are some things that should never be urgent, but often times are: Packing for a planned trip. Getting to a meeting on time. Responding to an email. Finishing up a strategic project.
Work with less urgency and more intention.
Here are a few tips:
- Set reasonable deadlines.
- Schedule time for project planning.
- Work efficiently, but not “in a rush”.
- Avoid putting having to place things into the “urgent and important” quadrant.
Benjamin Franklin said that “haste makes waste”.
I say that urgency is the incubator of idiocy.
Same difference.
Schedule what’s important so you’re not forced to work in the same quadrant as firefighters and ER nurses.
“You must understand, young Hobbit, it takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish. And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.”