Priorities – Page 4 – Grandpa Bob Encouraging Leadership

I don’t have time to think!

I don’t have time to think, I’m too busy responding!

I heard this phrase the other day. To be fair, the manager saying it was joking. However, about fifteen minutes into our discussion, her phone buzzed and she (almost compulsively) checked it. She looked up and apologized that she needed to respond. It would only take a minute.

After finishing her response, she was back and totally focused on our discussion. Where were we, anyway? I wasn’t exactly sure, but I did write the following in my meeting notes:

I don’t have time to think, I’m too busy responding.

Have you fallen into this trap? Are you so busy responding that you don’t have time to think? Thinking takes time, energy, and discipline. Responding requires only two of these resources. Guess which one’s missing when all we do is respond. Discipline.

Discipline is a choice. Discipline helps us consciously think about the world as it comes at us. Discipline provides the space to consider alternatives, and imagine new possibilities. Discipline helps determine if a response is needed at all.

Whack-a-Mole

If you’ve spent any time in an arcade, bowling alley, or Dave and Buster’s, you’ve probably seen a Whack-a-Mole game.

The player uses a mallet to whack “moles” in the head as they pop up randomly from under the “ground” in front of them. The moles appear and disappear randomly, sometimes popping-up all at once, one-at-a-time, two-at-a-time, etc. The winner is the player who whacks the most moles in sixty seconds.

It’s a simple game, and can be lots of fun. When multiple moles pop-up simultaneously, players have to decide which ones to whack before they all disappear. There isn’t much time to formulate strategy, or anticipate where the next mole will appear. It’s all about reaction time, and a bit of hand-eye coordination.

Whack-a-Mole is fun in an arcade. Unfortunately, many people live their lives like a huge Whack-a-Mole game. They’re always busy, whacking moles, and constantly on guard for the next one that pops-up.

There’s no time to think. No time to strategize or find creative solutions. No time to ask for help. No time to address root causes…only time to react. It’s not important that the same issues pop-up over and over. It’s all about reaction time.

If you’ve allowed your days to become a large Whack-a-Mole game, do yourself a favor. Put down the mallet. Look up from the game. Take time to think. Take time to prioritize.

Chances are you’ll start to see beyond the urgent and put your focus where it matters most…on the important.

When Everything is Urgent…

NOTHING IS

The very definition of urgent requires one thing (the urgent thing) to be done before something else. If everything is urgent, which one is first?

Prioritizing requires decision making, and risk taking. Your priorities are the things you choose to do, not the things you say you do, or wish you could do. Deciding not to decide is a decision…a risky one when it comes to prioritizing.

Of course, it would be ideal if the things you’ve determined to be urgent are also important. The two don’t always go hand-in-hand, but should.

What’s really the most urgent priority for each of us? Actually deciding what’s important.