Allowing the Urgent to Rule - This Week

A few years ago, I wrote on this blog about how you can avoid being ruled by the tyranny of the urgent.   By that, I mean living your life in a way that you are always chasing the next due date at the expense of things that are important but not time sensitive.  Today, I am writing about a time when I am allowing myself to let the urgent rule.  It's this week.

For those that don't already know, I am the yearbook advisor at my school as well as a regular classroom teacher.  That means May is packed enough to make a person go cuckoo for cocoa puffs.  The final chapters must be taught while exams are being written; awards nights are scheduled as are spring fine arts performances.  Textbooks must be collected and inventory must be done.  AP testing pulls students from my classroom.  Yearbooks go out less than two weeks before graduation (for which I make the slideshow).  And, oh yeah, someone decided both teacher appreciation week and Mother's Day should be during this time.  So . . . There's a lot going on.

For that reason, this is one of the periods during the year when I allow myself to be ruled by that which is due soonest.   My "to do" list gets divided into three sections - "Today, By the End of the Week, and Can Wait."  I will complete the "Today" section before I allow myself to look at the other two.  Then, I will tackle either whatever takes the least amount of time (like writing this blog post) or what I can do a small part of even though the whole takes a long time (like completing a few slides of the graduation slide show). 

This is not easy for a planner like me, and it might not be for you either.  I was having a conversation yesterday with someone who claims to live her life this way all the time.  That would make me crazy.  However, during these few weeks, I give myself permission to live this way, knowing that it will be over soon.  After exams are finished, I can go back to prioritizing the important over the urgent.