If you’re someone who prefers to keep an open to-do list, you may have noticed how quickly all your different tasks tend to add up. Before you know it, you’re overwhelmed with no idea where to begin!
One helpful way to sort through different entries is by assigning the classifiers, “urgent” and “important.”
If a task or chore is marked “urgent,” that means there is an imminent need or approaching deadline to seeing it done. Regardless of any personal significance the task may hold for you, what matters is that it is time-sensitive. A few common examples might include: booking tickets to a concert, picking up prescription medication, or addressing a home maintenance issue.
If an item is “important,” that means it is crucial that you complete it at some point, but not necessarily right away. Items of this nature might be related to more long-term goals such as taking time to research neighborhoods or market trends in anticipation of buying a house someday. Other examples might be making travel plans, calling a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while, or practicing a new skill you’re learning.
In addition, you may find certain tasks qualify as both “urgent” and “important.” In such instances, you now know to make these your highest priority.
Conversely, you may also find some items on your to-do list are neither important nor urgent and therefore acceptable to address at a more leisurely pace.
Learning to effectively recognize which tasks are truly deserving of our full energy and attention is an important step to cultivating a healthy and successful lifestyle.