1. Getting organized by putting first things first

Coaching

"Putting first things first" is a simple, yet elegant organizational tool for determining how to use time. The first step is to specify all tasks as one of four types

• Urgent and Important
• Important but not Urgent
• Urgent but not Important
• Neither Urgent nor Important

A good organizer knows that taking the time now to do activities which are Important but not Urgent reduces the time required for Important and Urgent activities in the future.

Examples of Important and Urgent activities. Must be done without delay.

Examples of Important but not Urgent activities.

Examples of activities that are Urgent but not Important.

Examples of activities that are not Important and not Urgent.

You can't and shouldn't avoid the Urgent and Important activities. These need to be done.

The change necessary to produce significant improvement is to shift your effort from the Urgent but not Important to the Important but not Urgent.

What kind of shift does moving to Important but not Urgent represent? It's doing the planning, relationship building and personal preparation activities which prepare you for the future instead of the Urgent but not (as) Important activities usually imposed on you by others; colleagues, clients, staff, suppliers, your own (sometimes irrational) fears etc.

Mentoring

Consider how you spend your time now in an effort to take more time for important activities.

What on your To-Do list is Urgent and Important now? This should be easy to answer.

What on your to do list is Urgent but not really Important and can be replaced by something that is really important? This is a harder question to answer.

If magically you had a full day allocated for Important but not Urgent activities, what would you do?

Next steps

Save and review
Review your responses, then save this module in your records to retrieve, review and redo later.

Download full workshop
On the home page of each workshop, you will find the "Download full workshop" icon, which lets you save all modules in that specific workshop at once. All the modules are contained in a single, navigable PDF file.

Downloading and saving all modules onto your computer or onto a disk allows you to access individual modules more quickly and easily than having to access each module individually. It also helps you quickly browse through the entire workshop content, providing you with an overview of how the modules relate to each other and which ones can benefit you the most. This option is most useful to those planning to complete numerous modules in a specific workshop.

Evaluate yourself
The online COACHING CENTRE is a self-teaching and self-evaluation tool. For feedback, consider reviewing your responses with a colleague or mentor. Look for opportunities to test what you have learned. Redo the module in the future, and compare responses from the two sessions to "test" what you have learned in the interim.

To move to another module
Click the back arrow in your browser to try another module. For more information, see the tips/help section on the online COACHING CENTRE site.

Give us your feedback
Your views, comments and suggestions are important to help us improve the online COACHING CENTRE to better meet your needs.

You can access the feedback form by simply clicking on the feedback link in the upper navigation bar on the online COACHING CENTRE home page. This form provides you with the opportunity to provide comments on both the OCC and other resources in the practicePRO website.

Please note that completing only this feedback form DOES NOT qualify you for the $50 insurance premium discount; to be eligible for the premium discount, you must complete the LAWPRO CPD Premium Credit Declaration.

Back to Overcoming Procrastination Workshop