To Get Things Done, Do The Important Stuff First!

 ‘Nothing’s getting done!’ wailed Rinku. ‘I made a long list of things to do six months ago – publishing articles, joining a certificate course, improving my health - and nothing happened.’

‘I stopped making lists,’ said Rahul. ‘They’re useless. Right bhaiyya?’

‘Wrong,’ said Rakesh. ‘It’s not just making lists. You need to prioritise what’s important and work on those. That’s when things get done.’

‘But I’m busy all day,’ said Rinku. ‘What more can I do?’

‘You’re clearly wasting your time and energy on unimportant things Watson,’ smiled Rakesh. ‘Management guru Stephen Covey’s bestselling book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ gives a brilliant perspective into how to manage time and increase productivity.’

‘How bhaiyya?’ asked Rahul.

‘By following his ‘First Things First,’ principle,’ said Rakesh. ‘Identify important activities on your list. Things that make a significant difference in the long term - like planning, building on systems, relationships and expertise, exploring opportunities - and do those first. Surprisingly, most of us don’t work on what’s important to us.’

‘Why?’ pondered Rinku.

‘Because important things by nature don’t happen instantly,’ said Rakesh. ‘We can’t become great scholars, singers or players overnight. Important stuff is routine, difficult, with slow, invisible progress and little to show. It’s easier to engage in unimportant activities that are visible, popular and provide immediate gratification - like unimportant phone calls, social media and other distractions. That’s why things don’t gets done.’

 ‘How do we separate what’s important and what’s not bhaiyya?’ asked Rahul sheepishly.

‘I suggest you use Covey’s time management matrix,’ said Rakesh. ‘It segregates your time into ‘Urgent’ and ‘Important’ activities, placed in four quadrants. Your “Urgent and Important” activities go into the first quadrant, “Important and not Urgent” activities into the second, “Urgent and not Important” activities in the third and “Not Urgent and not Important” in the fourth. So, where’s your time going?’

‘Mostly ‘not important’,’ said Rahul. ‘And ‘urgent’. Very little on important activities. What should I do bhaiyya?’

‘First, minimise your ‘unimportant’ activity time immediately Rahul,’ said Rakesh. ‘Then reduce your “urgent” list - which normally reflects poor planning - with better planning, systems and organisation. Gradually, spend more time on the second quadrant and focus your best time and energy on ‘Important’ and ‘Not Urgent’ activities.’

‘I get it bhaiyya,’ said Rinku. ‘Important work gets done only when we do it first. It’s not about time, it’s about our priorities.’

‘While working on important activities, it helps to have specific, measurable daily targets like say, writing 500 words, working out for an hour etc to feel a sense of accomplishment,’ said Rakesh. ‘Follow Covey’s principle and you’ll be astounded at the results.’

‘Wow,’ said Rahul. ‘Right now, I feel a hot chai is most urgent.’

Pro Tip: Separate activities that are ‘important’ from ‘urgent’ and unimportant’ activities. Do the important activities first. You’ll get a lot of work done in the same amount of time.

 

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