The important task rarely must be done today, or even this week...But the urgent task calls for instant action...The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible and important, and they devour our energy. But in the light of time's perspective, their deceptive prominence fades; with a sense of loss we recall the vital tasks we pushed aside. We realize we've become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.
Don't let the urgent take the place of the important in your life... When you and I were putting out the fires of the urgent, the important was again left in a holding pattern.
We realize our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time; it is basically a problem of priorities. We confess, we have left undone those things that ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.
A man's home is no longer his castle; it is no longer a place away from urgent tasks because the telephone breaches the walls with imperious demands.
The need itself is not the call.
