Picture this: a video once went viral, highlighting a crucial life lesson about prioritizing the significant aspects of life like family and health over minor distractions.
In the demonstration, a teacher fills a jar with golf balls and asks if it’s full. To everyone’s surprise, he manages to add pebbles, then sand, and finally liquid, perfectly fitting everything inside.
The message was clear: if you fill your jar with small items first, there’s no space left for what’s truly important. However, this approach is tricky when constantly juggling urgent tasks.
Efficient managers know how to fill their jars with essential projects and urgent tasks. The challenge, however, remains: a constantly filled jar.
As a leader, you sometimes need your team to increase output without burnout. There are tasks only I, as a CEO, can do, and if I’m overwhelmed with urgent matters, the critical ones get overlooked. Sometimes, you just want the golf balls in the jar, occasionally needing a “baseball” to fit in too. Managing vital tasks can turn a full calendar into a disadvantage.
The solution isn’t simply to expand your capacity, which leads to exhaustion, but to rethink how time and priorities work, enabling focus on what truly matters.
Navigating Prioritization
The viral video isn’t introducing a new concept: small tasks naturally fill available time. Eisenhower famously observed, “Urgent things are not important, and important things are never urgent.” From this wisdom, Stephen R. Covey developed a time management matrix known as the Eisenhower Box.
The matrix separates tasks into four quadrants: (1) Not Urgent / Not Important, (2) Urgent / Not Important, (3) Urgent / Important, and (4) Not Urgent / (Most) Important. Prioritizing Quadrant 4 is ideal but often impractical due to the weight of urgent tasks.
To escape the trap of perpetual urgency, managers need to master the art of deprioritizing effectively.
Mastering Delegation and Automation
Give this a try: list everything you do weekly, then assign each to the Eisenhower Matrix. Tasks not contributing to health or goals are Not Important, while those with immediate demands are Urgent.
Focus on Quadrants 1 and 2 to declutter your schedule. Quadrant 1 (Not Urgent / Not Important) includes time-wasters like social media. Aim to eliminate these distractions ruthlessly.
Quadrant 2 (Urgent / Not Important) requires nuance. Though urgent, these tasks often don’t add value, such as managing emails. Delegation and automation are crucial here.
Consider a personal assistant for delegating daily tasks or automation tools for handling calendars and emails. As technology advances, these solutions are becoming more accessible.
Deprioritization isn’t about doing less; it’s about valuing your attention, being intentional, and creating room for growth and productivity. By redefining your approach, you’ll open new possibilities for tackling essential projects. Try it, and you might be surprised by the results!
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