Chapter 9 four levels of things

The things that each of us face every day can be divided into the following four levels according to the degree of priority, namely important and urgent things; important but not urgent things; urgent but not important things; neither urgent nor important things . 1. Important and urgent matters These are the things that are most important to you and the ones you need to do right now. Some are critical to your career and goals, and some are so relevant to your life that they deserve priority over any other.Only when they are resolved reasonably and efficiently can you proceed with other tasks smoothly.

2. Important but not urgent This kind of thing requires us to have more initiative, enthusiasm and self-consciousness.From how well a person handles this kind of thing, we can see the person's ability to judge career goals and progress.Because most of the really important things in our lives aren't necessarily urgent.Such as reading a few useful books, leisure and entertainment, cultivating relationships, controlling diet, and exercising.Are these things important?Of course, they affect our health, career, and family relationships.But are they urgent?No.So many times we can procrastinate these things, and it seems that we can procrastinate until we regret why we didn't pay attention to them at the beginning, and we didn't start to pay attention to solving them earlier.

3. Urgent but unimportant things Is there such a thing?Of course, and anytime, anywhere.Originally, you had already washed up and got ready to rest, so that you could refresh yourself and go to the library to read a book tomorrow. Suddenly the phone rang, and your friend invited you to go clubbing and chat now.You just don't have enough guts to say no to them, and you don't want to disappoint your friends.Then, you went, and when you came home the next morning, you were dizzy and groggy all day long.You are led away by other people's affairs, but you have not done what you think is important, which may cause you to be relatively passive for a long time.

4. Things that are neither urgent nor important A lot of these things come up in our lives, and they may have a little value, but if we indulge in them without restraint, we are wasting a lot of precious time.For example, we sit down to watch TV after eating, but we often don’t know what we want to watch and what will be broadcast later.Just passively accept the information sent by the TV.Often after watching TV, we feel that it is better to read a few books, or even go for a run on the exercise bike, so what we did just now is a waste of time.In fact, if you have to pay attention, a lot of time we spend on TV is wasted.

The above situation can be expressed clearly with a coordinate. In which quadrant do you spend your time?Is it A?If so, you can imagine how busy you are every day. Doing so will consume a lot of energy, and one problem after another will rush at you like a big wave.If you do this all the time, sooner or later, you will be knocked down, crushed, battered, and disfigured. If it is C, your work efficiency can be imagined.Don't think that these things are important because they are urgent. The reality is that the urgency of these things is often determined by other people's priorities, and you are always being led by the nose.

What if D?Unfortunately, if things go on like this, you will get nowhere.You are neither productive nor effective at all.In addition to wasting a lot of your time, it also proves that you are a person who cannot control your emotions. Only in Quadrant B is it at the heart of effective personal management.Although these things are not urgent, they determine our quality of life, education level, taste development, job performance and so on.Only by developing a good personal habit of "doing important things and not rushing things" will you be able to work with ease.You will make work plans in advance, review your homework on time, exercise regularly, keep in good shape, and avoid the tension and embarrassment of getting ready for battle.This is what we advocate.

The famous management guru Peter Drucker has found through a lot of research that those who are busy but inefficient at work (unfortunately, this abounds), they spend 90% of their time in quadrant A to deal with those The seemingly endless urgency almost spends the remaining 10% of the time in quadrant D.Their behavior is the exact opposite of those highly effective people who basically live an irresponsible life.