While relaxing, I read a fabulous post on procrastination. At it's core was the "Eisenhower Matrix" popularized in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. It looks like this:
| Urgent | Not Urgent | |
|---|---|---|
Important
|
Q1 Urgent and Important |
Q2 Not urgent and Important |
Not
Important |
Q3 Urgent and Not important |
Q4 Not urgent and Not important |
This was paired with a cool Eisenhower quote: "What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important." The author then goes on to describe how the things that get you ahead in an entrepreneurial side business aren't usually urgent (like writing a novel) but are nonetheless quite important. We will never achieve our long-term dreams/goals without working on Q2; it's what gets us ahead. But these lofty goals get overwhelmed by using urgency as the sole method to prioritize where we put our effort, when in reality there should be very few things in Q1. Which means we spend more time in Q3, doing those urgent but not important tasks that keep us busy.
The post goes on to describe where different types of procrastinators fall, and the section on "Impostinators" fit me almost exactly: we look productive, but we're working on tasks that aren't all important and won't get us closer to our goals. He gives examples of "spending the whole day answering emails, running errands, making phone calls, organizing lists and schedules," etc. If this is a problem for you, I encourage you to read his lengthy post.
So now I want to look at my major goals in life and put them in this matrix. This task, in and of itself, is classic of procrastination -- lots of planning, little doing -- but it makes me feel better! Why do I want to put all of my goals in the matrix, instead of just my novel writing ones? Well, that was a major point I took away from the post. Q1 and Q2 tasks, the important tasks, should take priority, and urgency should be defined as "what would benefit most from being done sooner" rather than what has the closest deadline. Q2 tasks could be spending time with family, which is just as important as improving my craft.
| Goal: Develop my self-publishing business | ||
|---|---|---|
| Urgent | Not Urgent | |
Important
|
Q1 Write new words |
Q2 Update scene metadata Improve craft Learn nonverbal behaviour |
Not
Important |
Q3 Update "Writing in Public" |
Q4 Read self-publishing news (The Passive Voice) Read KBoards Read author blogs Listen to podcasts Work out better schedule |
| Goal: Everything else (Family, Health) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Urgent | Not Urgent | |
Important
|
Q1 Sort out taxes Sort out bills Book camping site |
Q2 Spend time with kids Exercise Get kids' back-to-school supplies Make basement livable space List stuff to sell |
Not
Important |
Q3 Do Laundry |
Q4 Watch Netflix Go down internet rabbit hole |
