PhotoCredit: Chick
I just spent a week away. Nothing fancy, a little local trip to escape the city. These mini trips have been a needed escape hatch this year. I get that it’s a luxury. 2019 luxuries were spa treatments, international trips and hugs. 2020 luxuries are a quiet mind and a quick home workout. Maybe a curbside pickup meal. Moments without being a breadwinner, teacher, parent, chef and housekeeper. I appreciate the little things a lot more in 2020.
While others were having 10am happy hour, poolside, I had completed my morning hike and was invariably settling in with some quality computer time. My idea of a vacation apparently changed somewhere along the way. I happily plowed my way through articles I hadn’t found the time to read, deep diving on a couple of topics of interest and catching up on the stuff that was important but not urgent.
The Eisenhower Matrix taught me the power of understanding what is Urgent and Important. Simply put, what has to be done first. Every other task becomes of lesser importance, they become “do later” tasks. Urgent but Less Important; Not Urgent but Important; and Not Urgent or Important.
I have always been a big fan of this lesser known Matrix. Sure, it isn't as cool as the Keanu one but it will arguably bring you more pleasure. At various times in my career, I sorted my email based on this methodology. It works! Try it if your inbox is currently completely unmanageable.
The problem is that everything in 2020 has felt Urgent and Important. There seems to be no room for anything else. Ok, so a lot of the Not Urgent or Important tasks seem to get done. I will find time to reorder coffee and even research and buy a new coffee machine (arguably this is Urgent and Important!) but reading a paper on data architecture falls by the wayside. You do the math!
The bigger problem is that a lot of your career-changing and business-transformation ideas lie in the not-urgent realm. They are being overlooked in the chaos. We have to find a way to prioritize this work.
As 2020 draws to a close, we know we can expect a similar 2021. For many, we will still be working and schooling from home. At least in part. Even if we are not, there is an urgency to the current global climate that will continue to throw us off our game. That will continue to make the day-to-day Urgent and everything else a mere wake in the path of the year.
My escape hatch has become a core strategy to optimize myself and my work. A planned week, with limited phone calls (none if possible), provides the space to think and review what is Important but elusive in a busy year. In a busy life!
I offer the Eisenhower Matrix as a tool to help you prioritize the competing demands that are our new reality. I offer the escape hatch as a power-up on this. Sort through your to-do list and create an escape hatch list. You don’t need to leave town (though it sure helps). Just clear your calendar to the bare minimum and create time to think.