Nothing about running a small business is ever certain so here’s how to work out what to do when you don’t know what’s coming next.

Work Smart Not Hard Tip No. 9 in a series written for Indie Cambs 

One way to feel more in control is to focus on what’s important and not on what’s urgent.

If that sounds like a contradiction think of it this way:

A big project that isn’t urgent will always get shunted off the schedule by things that scream for your attention but how many of those urgent things are really important to you? We often get sucked into doing things for other people that aren’t important to us, simply because someone says they’re urgent and makes a fuss about them.

Prioritising what’s important to you over everything else can feel selfish but it’s the only way to get big things done.

Think about that one most important thing you’d like to achieve and how you spend most of your time.

If you want to achieve something specific it means scheduling time for those most important tasks and doing these before the things that feel urgent.

Things that are Important but not Urgent

These are the most important, yet most often neglected tasks. These tasks never become urgent until it is too late. For example, taking care of your health, your relationships or pursuing your dreams. Planning time to spend on these tasks will result in vision, perspective, balance and control.

Things that are Urgent and Important

This is how a lot of people spend most of their time, consumed with crisis management instead of crisis prevention. Side effects include stress, burn-out, constant firefighting and resolving problems instead of preventing them.

Things that are Urgent but not Important

The urgency of these tasks is due to others’ priorities or needs. A good way to check is to ask yourself: “Is this task related to my goals? Does doing this make any difference to me?” Spending too much time on these tasks results in being out of control in life and not being able to stick to your own goals and plans. Set strong boundaries and don’t let people steal your time.

Things that are not Urgent and not Important

This is all your time wasters. You could be wasting time because you’re procrastinating about things you should be doing. This puts no value in our lives whatsoever. (Don’t confuse these things with having fun, daydreaming or relaxing  – these come into the important not urgent category and probably need more time allocated to them!)

When you’ve figured our where you want to spend more of your time and what you want to achieve with it I’d love to know what you come up with!

If you’d like help making plans and sticking to them, just let me know!