Brian Tracy Success - Separate Urgent From Important

This article is based on another fantastic Brian Tracy Podcast: "21 Great Ways To Double Your Productivity - Number 5."

The first thing to understand is that ALL of your tasks fall into one of four categories:

1. Urgent AND Important Tasks

These tasks demand your immediate attention. "Work on me now!" they seem to say. Tasks in this category are phone calls and meetings. If you put them off, you'll cause serious problems.

These are the tasks on which people spend most of their time.

2. Important BUT NOT Urgent Tasks

Brian Tracy says that if you want to create the longest-lasting impact on your life, then finish these types of task.

The tasks in this category include personal renewal, physical fitness and exercise, updating your skills, and spending time with your family.

Don't put these tasks off for another day. If you want to change your life for the better, work on these now.

Mark my words, if you don't work on the Important BUT NOT Urgent Tasks now, the come back to bite you in the butt. Some tasks in this category are term papers for school and reports for your boss.

3. Urgent but NOT Important Tasks

The tasks in this category include telephone calls, coworkers dropping in, and conversations about TV programs and what you did last night.

Brian Tracy states that performing tasks in this group will have no effect on your success. Sadly, some folks delude themselves into thinking they're actually working when they're working on these tasks.

In fact, these kinds of tasks are great time- and career-wasters. Stay away from tasks in this area.

But even these aren't the biggest time-wasters. The biggest time-wasters are:

4. Neither Urgent NOR Important

Stay away from these tasks. They are completely useless; they have no consequences at all. Don't do things like reading the newspaper or calling home to find out what's for dinner. You will be contributing nothing to the company goals or to your personal aspirations.

To summarize...

Make sure that you're first working on the "Most Urgent and Important". Then move into the "Important but Not Urgent" Tasks. You increase your productivity by refusing to do things that are not important at all.

Here's the central question to ask yourself continually for each task: What are the likely enduring costs of doing this task?

Let the answer to this question guide you in your choice of priorities.

About the Author

15. To learn precisely how Brian Tracy became such a success, go to Brian Tracy Success Tips where you'll find top selling Brian Tracy Audio Programs.