That doesn’t happen often.

Every time management expert I’ve ever heard — even Dwight D. Eisenhower who is known to have used the “importance-urgency” criteria… says you should:

1. do important and urgent items first (obviously)
2. do important and non-urgent items second — this is key and allows you to be effective, get ahead, and put out fires before they ever become important and urgent, taking command of your time and life
3. urgent and not important
4. not important, not urgent

Chris, I can’t let this go unchallenged. You’ve made precisely the wrong point and if people follow your advice, you’ll steer them wrong, big time, on one of the most critical parts about managing/approaching life imaginable.

Here’s a great lecture from Randy Pausch, computer science prof at Carnegie Melon, virtual reality pioneer, time management expert, father, husband, health and fitness enthusiast, and unfortunately dying of pancreatic cancer. If you and your peeps don’t get anything out of it, I’ll be shocked: