I haven't been writing much lately, but I was inspired to write this post today.
Back in college, I was given a little booklet of an article by Charles Hummel called Tyranny of the Urgent. Honestly, I never read it but the title frequently comes back to me. I know that the idea of the article is that the "urgent" often crowds out what is important.
Today, I had plans to clean my playroom/schoolroom. This has been a project long in the making. Sometimes, the room gets to usable condition, but it has never been fully organized and it always slips back to cluttered. I have made a couple of strides recently and want to keep going, so I was going to give it some attention and had set a goal to complete two aspects of the organizing.
Then, I was asked to host a group at the last minute. I was happy to be asked and to host.
The focus of our housekeeping changed for the day. Suddenly it became "urgent" to tidy up the downstairs and deep clean the bathrooms. Plans for the playroom went out the window -- and we won't be able to reschedule until next week. Oh, well.
Did the urgent overtake the important? In terms of housekeeping, yes. I really do want that playroom ready and need to prioritze the work on it. (Then again, hosting that meeting and helping out the group was important, too. Urgent vs. important is not always that clear cut I guess.)
I do wonder how often maybe I set aside important things, spiritually, emotionally, relationally in favor of the urgent. Something to keep in mind.
How has the "urgent" "tyrannized" you?
Back in college, I was given a little booklet of an article by Charles Hummel called Tyranny of the Urgent. Honestly, I never read it but the title frequently comes back to me. I know that the idea of the article is that the "urgent" often crowds out what is important.
Today, I had plans to clean my playroom/schoolroom. This has been a project long in the making. Sometimes, the room gets to usable condition, but it has never been fully organized and it always slips back to cluttered. I have made a couple of strides recently and want to keep going, so I was going to give it some attention and had set a goal to complete two aspects of the organizing.
Then, I was asked to host a group at the last minute. I was happy to be asked and to host.
The focus of our housekeeping changed for the day. Suddenly it became "urgent" to tidy up the downstairs and deep clean the bathrooms. Plans for the playroom went out the window -- and we won't be able to reschedule until next week. Oh, well.
Did the urgent overtake the important? In terms of housekeeping, yes. I really do want that playroom ready and need to prioritze the work on it. (Then again, hosting that meeting and helping out the group was important, too. Urgent vs. important is not always that clear cut I guess.)
I do wonder how often maybe I set aside important things, spiritually, emotionally, relationally in favor of the urgent. Something to keep in mind.
How has the "urgent" "tyrannized" you?
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