Listen – we run around and are busy 25% of our time with activities that are really not that urgent

Your brain is threatened. My White Paper “6 challenges for you in our new digital age” lies behind all activities at Lederkommunikation.nu.  Now and then I post short summary articles on LinkedIn from the White Paper about the 6 challenges individually, and how they are mixed together in a dangerous cocktail.

Here is my website in english 😉

This article focus on our precious time. International studies shows, that we spend only 30% of our time on creativity, planning and relationships.

In a time matrix, your activities are divided according to how urgent they are, how important they are, and how the interaction is between:

• Urgency. Things that are urgent. Something that feels like it needs to be done right now, whether it makes a difference to the results or not.
• Importance. Things that are important. Something that – if not done – will have serious consequences for the results.

Studies has been collecting data over decades around the globe, and they have, among a lot of other things, shown that, on average, people spend their time at work:

• 51.2% of time are spent on activities that are urgent.
• 30.8% of time are spent on things that really matter.
• 41.5% of time are spent on non-important activities.

What for me is particularly interesting is, that around half of the time we spent on activities, which are urgent – but they are actually not that important. In other words, we run around and are busy 25% of our time with activities that are really not that urgent.

Image what potential that reveals. If we could move just 10% of our precious time to more important activities? To creativity, planning and relationships. And maybe even also move some procents from the non-important activities to important activities.

What a potential. Why should that be an impossible task?

For me, such numbers speak for themselves. We have so many opportunities to do things better for the benefit of our own well-being, our job satisfaction, our workplaces and our society.

We have to take more care of our precious time. We have to put at body guard in front of our brain, so that we can avoid disturbance and pollution with data and information – and focus on, what really matters.

Perhaps, the most important are, that we dare to speak openly and transparently about what we prioritize, and why, in our everyday worklife. And when things seem to be urgent for you, then let me kindly suggest you always to ask your self and your relations:

What will really happen, if this waits until tomorrow? Or the day after tomorrow? Could the result even be better – or did reality show, that it was no so important after all?  

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The time matrix and the number comes from the publication “The 5 choices – the way to extraordinary productivity” (Time Management 2.0. Published by Kory Kogon, Adam Merill and Tonny Maak, FranklinCovey). The publication is a follow-up to the comprehensive management development program “7 Good Habits”, first described in the book of the same name published in 1989 as a business and self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey, sold in more than 25 million copies.