108. Tips for working on 'low urgency but important' tasks
Here is this time's topic for Shin R25
Please tell me some tips for working on "things that are not urgent but are important"
https://r25.jp/answer/142425959863794758
● My comment on this topic📝
I feel that for things that are low urgency but important, it is difficult to start working on them immediately, and
they often require
thinking things through first. Perhaps
the brain feels less stressed when executing tasks with clear objectives, so we tend to gravitate toward those. Therefore, it might be important to first
learn to enjoy 'thinking' (= reaching a state of no stress)
. In that sense, this Shin R25 wide show is a perfect place to build the habit of thinking, so if you can make answering a habit, you will start to enjoy thinking, and I believe you can clear the initial hurdle of starting important tasks that don't have immediate answers!
● Supplement to this comment
🙄
When thinking about priorities using the common 4-quadrant matrix of urgency and importance, this topic relates to which of the following A or B you prioritize after those that are both high. A: High urgency x Low importance. B: High importance x Low urgency. The reason such a topic is brought up is likely because it is a 'common work occurrence' to prioritize A and fail to make progress on B. From the perspective of priority in terms of what to start first, it's obviously A -> B. After all, the urgency is high. The challenge is that B never seems to progress
. I believe the points I mentioned in my comment are the essential factors, but perhaps the root cause of why B doesn't progress differs from person to person 🤔. In that case, it might be good to let yourself make an '
excuse
'.
The content of the 'excuse' is often the essential and motivational root cause. '
Because it's...
' is the key phrase 👍. However, since it is often difficult to solve that '...' by yourself,
try consulting a boss? senior? colleague?
! People
can feel their own value by being consulted
, so
surprisingly, many people actually want to be consulted😉. And if the person you consult has decision-making authority, they can make choices on the spot, so you can often solve the '...' immediately. So, for those who don't have time to start important tasks,
first, creating time is important
, but if you still can't make progress even after creating time, I feel like it comes down to
learning to enjoy thinking & outputting -> lowering the hurdle to starting.
However, for those who find it hard to enjoy thinking & outputting, they might need a sounding board. If there are many such people, maybe I'll develop a method for it 😁