1.5 - About University

13.5 U RGENCY AND I MPORTANCE:T HE E SSENTIAL E LEMENTS OFM ANAGING Y OUR T IMEInspired by Stephen Covey and Roger and Rebecca R. Merrill.This tool concerns the use of a leader’s most scarce resource—his or her time. How you spendyour time has a great bearing on your long-term success as a leader. One of the paradoxes oftime is that the busier you are, the more you need to take time to step back and examine howyou are using your time! Yet few of us are able to do this, as we get caught in what StephenCovey calls the Urgency Addiction. Daily planning often misses the most important issues,whereas when you step back from day-to-day activities and prioritize on a weekly, monthly, orannual basis, your activities are tied into a much broader and more strategic perspective.This tool will allow you to examine and reprioritize how you use your time. Two criteria—importance and urgency—provide an organizing framework for understanding the long-termimplications of time management on your success as a leader.ImportantUrgent➊Not urgent➋Activities• emergencies, pressing problems• deadline-driven tasks, crises• business necessity work• crisis meetings• rushing to meet important deadlines• some (most?) administrative workActivities• preventing problems• important relationship-building• production capacity activities• recognizing strategic opportunities• visioning, planning, preparing• renewal and thoughtfulnessImplications• essential things done• short-term focus• crisis management, putting out fires• stress, burnout• working hard but with unsatisfactory longtermresultsImplications• on top of things• vision, perspective, strategic• disciplined, in true control• improved control, fewer crises• new opportunities captured• self-confidence and balance406 SECTION 13 TOOLS FOR LEADING PERFORMANCE