I was asked a good question yesterday.

"How do I know if an in-the-moment task is urgent enough for me to stop what I'm doing and focus on it instead?"

Story of our lives, right?

Here is my suggestion for how to filter those tasks (inspired by the Eisenhower Matrix):

➡ Is the task actually important? Meaning, does it contribute to your pre-determined goals?

If it's not, maybe it doesn't even need to be a part of your workflow. It's ok to cross things off the list if they don't matter.

➡ Should the task be delegated to someone else?

And I'm not talking about passing it off on someone else because you don't feel like doing it, but legitimately should it be in someone else's bucket? If so, put it there.

➡ If it is truly urgent (which means there are time constraints involved), does it need to be done NOW, or can you dedicate a block of time to it later?

This will allow you to keep your focus on the other important item that you are doing now.

➡ Ultimately, is the task MORE important than what is currently being worked on?

That will be up to you to decide.

What tactics do you use when determining if a surprise task should be a part of your workflow?

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