You’ve probably taken the time to organize your life and pay attention to your goals, values and even separated your goals into long-term and short-term arenas. But, do you still feel like you are struggling to keep ahead? Do you feel like life is running too fast and you are the last struggling runner in the marathon? Maybe it isn’t about your values and goals, but simply about looking at prioritizing tasks, goals and those silly things that come up in life.
I was thinking about this just this morning. My family calls me the ‘finder,’ meaning that when they misplace something I know where it is. This lost souls ask me for help because they know I have an eidetic memory. They don’t need to worry about misplacing something as they can easily just ask for help! However, their continual misplacing of items drains energy and time for my life.
How? Sitting at my desk writing, my husband scurries around the house, desperately searching for his id badge for work. “I cannot find it,” he laments. Pulled from my thought, I pause the writing to respond, “On the kitchen table.” I lost my train of thought! I sit for a few minutes in order to regain the momentum and inspiration. His lack of preparation became an emergency on my part.
This same situation occurs daily. Not just with my spouse, but my children. Where is the dog leash? (That one bothers me as it is always where it belongs.) I cannot find my work shirt. Where are my shoes? Anyone know where I left the keys to my car? I lost my cell phone. I’m sure your household has the same lamentations.
I organized my house. Everything has a place. I organized my time. Time allotted for each activity and associated with my values and priorities. Yet, that wasn’t exactly true. My time was being eaten away by things where were not my priorities.
Stephen Covey (1989) offers a method to prioritize activities and tasks by ranking each activity through the use of the Covey Quadrant method.
Quadrant 1 is both Important and Urgent. These items are necessary. Many meetings will fall into this category.
Quadrant 2 is where you’d like to spend most of your time. It is the most effective, proactive space to be. Preparation, empowerment and focusing on tasks related to one’s goals and values.
Quadrant 3 is where the least amount of time should be spent. This is firefighting mode because a lack of preparation was completed, either by oneself or someone else.
Quadrant 4 serves a purpose at times, but usually is nothing more than a waste of time. It is generally due to a lack of planning.
Let’s look at an example of this quadrant filled in. I like to use an example from the point of view of a college student as it tends to be relatable to many people.
During your weekly planning time, this is where you will notice the need to differentiate between your time wasters and those things which will aid you in achieving your goals.
Quadrant 1: I call this the Manage Quadrant. Classes will fall into this situation. You cannot plan them but they are important. The essential component is to ensure that you don’t allow others to place items in your manage quadrant.
Quadrant 2: The Achiever Quadrant. You want to spend most of your time in this quadrant. This quadrant contains the tasks which propel your personal growth and goal achievement.
Quadrant 3: Fire. Stay away from this quadrant! This is the quadrant where tasks go because they were not properly planned! This is usually where items fall which are imposed upon you by others. For instance, your roommate locks himself out of your room and needs you to bring keys to him. Some ‘Fires’ simply cannot be helped. Others need careful thought. I use the phrase: Your lack of preparation does not constitute an emergency for me. This may sound heartless but you will find that those who do not prepare will consistently attempt to encroach on your plans if you do not use appropriate boundaries.
Quadrant 4: Wasters. Figure out what is the biggest waster in your life. Recently, I looked at how I spent my time. I noticed I’d gotten into a habit of silly game apps on my phone. It started simply enough. Just looking for something to do while standing in a line or waiting in the car. But it ballooned to the point that I was obsessed in beating the game!
A few days ago, I taught the concept of Covey’s Quadrants to a class of high school seniors. I posed a question. “I took my son to the movies. His choice of movie. I hated it. In which quadrant would you put this activity?” With little variation, a majority called the activity a ‘Waster,’ being in Quadrant 4. I put the activity in ‘Achiever,’ Quadrant 2. Why? Because parenting and family is a high value for me. Spending time with my son, even in a movie I hated (but he loved … I should add), made this an Achiever activity. I built my relationship with my grown son and spent time with him, doing something he enjoyed. I learned quite a few things about him that I didn’t know prior to this mother/son date.
I review this quadrant frequently — especially when I feel I’m struggling in the marathon of life. I also take a moment to look and see what may have crept into my life, as a task or senseless small habit, that is stealing time from my priorities. Like that time wasting game on my cell phone. (My husband finds that Facebook takes up too much of his time during election time. He loves politics but becomes embroiled with stupid comments, necessitating his response to educate the uneducated.)
Take a few moments and think about the activities in your life. In which quadrant do they fall?
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