Redefine importance
I was about to title this post redefine urgency, but I also didn’t mean for this blog to become monothematic! 😜️
Seriously though: even if I think what you’re gonna read applies to both, I’d say it relates a bit more to importance.
(By the way, these two concepts are somehow connected – such as in the so-called Eisenhower Matrix. And not seldom they are even conflated.)
Planning
I am used to think about importance and urgency in terms of things to do in the future. I suspect this is the most common approach.
I tend to judge the value and necessity of doing stuff before I do them, to decide when to do them and whether to do them or not.
Sometimes that’s the sensible thing to do. But wouldn’t it better to make decisions as late as possible, when we have the most information?
And when would that be? Well, right at the end – after all is said and done.
Future vs. Past
What I’m suggesting here is to re-evaluate what we’ve actually done, in alternative to just constantly coming up with new to-do lists.
If yesterday I spent 2 hours to wash my clothes, maybe that was important. Even if I could have done it in 1 hour, it was important that I took my time.
(Here’s another way to look at it: if anything else was more compelling, I would have done that instead. So, taking it easy was the most urgent thing to do.)
One thing I like about considering what’s already happened is that it somehow reminds me of the theory of inevitability from the film Interstate 60:
Neil Oliver: It’s a strange coincidence, seeing you here again.
O. W. Grant: Only if you believe in coincidence. I prefer inevitability. Every event is inevitable. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t happen.
And Now?
I don’t particularly like to draw conclusions, so I’d leave this post at that. But I also want to remind both you and myself that there’s no definite answer.
While future and past can be an excellent way of understanding the direction we want to take, we can only walk and move and live in the present.
Previous patterns may turn out to be misleading, and the next ones are often unpredictable. Everything can change.
Enjoy your Now! 🍀️