USING TIME EFFECTIVELY,
NOT JUST EFFICIENTLY

Your boss has asked you to prepare a briefing

• You only have a few days to put it together.
• Your workload is already high with urgent tasks and to do lists.
• Now you're anxious, can't concentrate, everything distracts you.
• How can you beat the stress, and deliver the product?

Two Kinds of Problems:

• Urgent
• Important

URGENT Activities

• Demand immediate attention.
• Usually associated with achieving someone else's goals.
• Consequences of not dealing with them are immediate.

IMPORTANT Activities

• Have an outcome that leads to us achieving our goals.
• Can be professional or personal.

Know which activities are
URGENT
and which are IMPORTANT

1. Types of URGENT and IMPORTANT Activities

• Ones you could not have forseen.
• Others you've left until the last minute.

2. NOT URGENT but IMPORTANT Activities

• Help you achieve your personal and professional goals, and complete important work.
• Leave enough time in your schedule to deal with unforeseen problems.

3. URGENT but NOT IMPORTANT

• Activities that prevent you from achieving your goals.
• A common source of such activities is other people.
• Have time slots when you are available so you aren't interrupted.

4. NOT URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT

• Activities that are just a distraction - avoid them if possible.
• Say "no" politely, if you can, and explain why you cannot do it.

Let's list all of your Tasks and Activities

• URGENT and IMPORTANT
• NOT URGENT but IMPORTANT
• URGENT but NOT IMPORTANT
• NOT URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT