Bossing the Busy: Four Tools to Choose What Matters
Dwight Eisenhower once said, “What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.” He should know. He juggled the small task of running WWII and then the United States.
And yet here we are, decades later, with calendars full, inboxes bursting, and brains that feel like browser tabs we forgot to close. Turns out the future didn’t come with more time, just more stuff.
Busyness Is Not a Badge
Brian Tracy reckons most people are operating at 110 to 130 percent of their capacity. Research backs this up:
Managers spent zero time on their top five priorities over the past fortnight
The average office worker attends around 60 meetings a month
There are 150-plus tasks sitting on the average to do list
Forty two percent of them will never get done
It’s no wonder most of us are working hard but not always on the right things.
Clarity Is a Competitive Advantage
There’s a brilliant simplicity in this: The fewer things we focus on, the more things we finish. This isn’t just common sense, it’s backed by the research in The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling. Their findings show:
Eleven to twenty priorities? You’ll complete none
Four to ten? You might land one or two
Two or three? You’ll actually deliver two or three
This is the Rule of 3 in action. A little discomfort comes with narrowing down. That’s normal. But here’s the thing. Priorities are about now, not forever. And choosing what to not do is as powerful as choosing what to do.
So how do we choose?
Four Tools to Help Choose What Matters
1. Ease vs Impact
Simple grid. Big payoff
Plot tasks by how easy they are to do, versus how much impact they’ll have
Top right? Do it now
Bottom left? Maybe not at all
2. Urgent vs Important
The Eisenhower Matrix, popularised by Stephen Covey, helps dodge the trap of chasing what’s screaming loudest
Urgent gets attention
Important changes tomorrow
Ignore the urgent and you might get fired
Ignore the important and you might not matter
3. The 80/20 Rule
Also known as the Pareto Principle
Not everything on your list deserves equal energy
Find the 20 percent of actions that create 80 percent of results, then pour focus there
Not fair, but it’s how leverage works
4. Purpose, Vision, Values
The soft stuff that’s actually the hard stuff
When stuck between options, hold each one up against your values
Does it align with where you want to go, who you want to be, what matters most?
If it ticks all three, it’s worth the time
You can’t do everything. But you can choose what matters. And that’s the bit that counts.
Further Reading and Sources