The importance of attending to tasks which are not urgent but important

In his classic book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the late Dr. Stephen Covey listed ‘put first things first’ as the third of the seven habits practiced by highly effective people. This habit, which focuses on spending time on what is most important to you, manifests itself through attending to tasks which are what Dr. Covey called ‘not urgent but important’. Such tasks often get neglected in favour of tasks which have a sense of urgency such as those which have deadlines.

‘Not urgent but important’ tasks typically do not have deadlines and often involve taking time to plan for or take steps toward current or new goals you are pursuing. Spending time on these not urgent but important tasks is often what can make the biggest difference in your attaining a sense of achievement and fulfillment in life.

In the following sections, I will discuss three areas in which it is important to attend to tasks which are not urgent but important—your relationships, your mental health and your career.

‘Not urgent but important’ tasks in your relationships

Dr. Covey’s notion of ‘not urgent but important’ has applications to relationships—particularly marriages. Much time in these relationships necessarily is devoted to ‘urgent and important’ tasks focused on topics like and finances and parenting. Unfortunately, the time spent on these urgent and important tasks (and sometimes additional time spent on time-wasting ‘urgent but not important’ tasks) interferes with attending to ‘not urgent but important’ tasks.

Not urgent but important’ relationship tasks focus on keeping a strong relationship friendship through engaging in behaviours and activities to build connection and intimacy. Although most people in relationships would acknowledge that these connection-building activities are important, they are often neglected because they lack the characteristic of urgency which is present for many activities in the task or issue side of the relationship. For example, there can be immediate negative consequences if a couple doesn’t pay their bills or get their children to school on time but there is little fear of such immediate negative consequences if the couple don’t make time to go for a walk together or have a date night.

Unfortunately, the greater urgency of task-oriented activities along with the sheer number of such activities often results in the ‘not urgent but important’ relationship friendship activities being postponed or omitted from a couple’s routine on a frequent basis. The result is that their relationship can suffer significantly in the long-term because not having enough friendship-building activities leads to what relationship expert Dr. John Gottman refers to as a an overdrawn ‘emotional bank account’ for the relationship. This state is associated with the couple having a negative perspective on themselves and their relationship which contributes to ongoing challenges for the couple both in dealing with issues constructively and in fostering emotional and physical intimacy.

So, making time to engage in the ‘not urgent but important’ tasks is vital to having a good relationship.

‘Not urgent but important’ tasks in your mental health

Dr. Covey’s notion of ‘not urgent but important’ also has applications to mental health. Much of our time is necessarily devoted to ‘urgent and important’ tasks which affect mental health. These tasks often involve taking action to address problems and stressful situations in areas such as work/career/education/, relationships, finances and physical health. In stress management terms, this falls under the category of ‘problem-focused coping’.

As a complement to problem-focused coping, ‘self-focused coping’ entails using skills and activities to improve your emotional reaction to sources of stress.

In turn, self-focused coping strategies are of three kinds:

(1) Behavioural self-focused coping entails engaging in pleasurable activities to give yourself a break from thinking about the problems you need to address in order to recharge your emotional batteries;

(2) Physical self-focused coping involves practicing activities to calm your body when you are feeling tense because of the sources of stress in your life. This includes controlled breathing, meditation, muscle relaxation, imagery and regular aerobic exercise;

(3) Cognitive self-focused coping involves using skills such as thought records which help you to reduce your negative emotional reaction to sources of stress by changing the way you think about them.

Problem-focused coping strategies and self-focused coping strategies complement each other. That is, when problem-focusing coping is required, self-focused coping skills will make it easier for you to use it. In addition, ongoing self-focused coping will have better effects the more you use problem-focused coping to address ongoing sources of stress in your life.

Unfortunately, self-focused coping strategies are often not used enough by people because, unlike problem-focused coping strategies, using them tends not to be a matter of urgency. That is, unlike with problems which need to be addressed in the areas of work/career/education/, relationships, finances and physical health, we don’t usually immediately notice the negative effects of failing to use self-focused coping strategies whether they be behavioural, physical or cognitive.

The result is that these strategies are often neglected. And the ensuing negative effects on mental health, although not immediately apparent, are significant. So, making time to engage in the ‘not urgent but important’ self-focused coping strategies is essential to having good mental health.

‘Not urgent but important’ tasks in your career

Finally, Dr. Covey’s notion of ‘not urgent but important’ has applications to career. Much time in our careers is necessarily devoted to ‘urgent and important’ tasks such as meeting deadlines and dealing with people such as clients, co-workers and supervisors.

The time devoted to these tasks often results in ‘not urgent but important’ career tasks being neglected. These tasks include devoting time to projects which need to be completed over time and long-term career planning. Failing to engage in these not urgent but important tasks can have a significant negative effect on your career. So, making time to engage in these ‘not urgent but important’ tasks is critical to having an enjoyable and successful career.

How to attend to ‘not urgent but important’ tasks

Given how important these ‘not urgent but important tasks’ are to your relationships, your mental health and your career, it is important to take steps to attend to these tasks. I will discuss these steps in my next article.

May you put first things first in your relationships, your mental health and your career,

Dr. Pat