Urgent, urgent, emergency
Urgent, urgent, emergency
Urgent (urgent), urgent (urgent), emergency
Urgent (urgent), urgent (urgent), emergency
So urgent, emergency
Mick Jones (Foreigner)
Picture this series of disasters! The phone rings, an email arrives, a report request lands on your desk, someone demands answers, dammit, answers! Welcome to the woeful world of the corporate addiction to urgency. It is as if urgency itself is an emergency—the crisis of urgency. But as I always say,
If everything is a crisis, nothing is a crisis.
In other words, once everything becomes equally urgent, there can be no priorities, and chaos ensues.
My experience in higher education opened my eyes to this phenomenon. In academia, the culture of urgency seeps from the top to every nook of an institution. Administrators and faculty alike frantically shuffle between tasks, meetings, and a flood of electronic messages. The toxin penetrates deep into the day and even contaminates employees’ would-be sanctuaries, their very homes.
Then came the COVID-19 lockdowns, and institutions of higher education kicked into overdrive. Panic ensued. No one could have been prepared for what transpired, but could the right mindset have helped keep some order?
The constant state of false alarm and anxiety that already existed rendered colleges incapable of taking on a real emergency—the pandemic shutdowns. Mentally and emotionally tapped out, administrators were left to muddle through, sustained by federal aid and lowered expectations, all coming a high cost, especially for students.
I was lucky to have already departed the scene before that all went down so I don’t know how I would have handled it and don’t pretend to have all the answers. But as difficult as the pandemic was for colleges, it was exacerbated by the culture of perpetual crisis.
During my decade as a dean and vice president, I made a break with that culture. I took steps that, though simple, were too radical for many. As one small example, I banned the word "crisis" from my vocabulary and asked my people to do the same.
Very few things in higher ed, or most any industry for that matter, require true urgency, and fewer still are particularly important. So, why do we manufacture crises? My guess is that we have a need to feel special, and faux urgency gives an air of indispensability. On top of that, we face great societal pressure to always be doing something momentous.
Too often, we imagine that life is supposed to be like a television program where each moment is a vital plot point. Do we really think there should never be down time, or is our every minute supposed to be significant? How is it that Jack Bauer never has to step into the men’s room to freshen up during his 24 hours of nonstop action and mayhem, let along go home to take a nap? And what about social media? Do we believe the images we see, that all our “friends” really are on perpetual vacations, eat nothing but photogenically plated food, and have the happiest and healthiest kids imaginable?
All this combines into a need to always be on, to jump from one major task to another, and this need infects our work culture. The phone rings? Answer it! The boss has an idea? Hurry up and call a meeting! A piece of paper crosses your desk? Deal with it before it becomes a pile! Oh no! My computer just pinged that there is an email! It’s no wonder so many workers are frustrated and burnt out.
So what’s a leader to do? How do we escape the crisis doom cycle? Well, you can start small by learning to set priorities and manage tasks. Here’s a few ideas to get you going:
Instead of jotting a list of tasks as they come up and just diving in, spend a minute or two each morning separating tasks into what needs to be done today and what can wait.
Create boundaries for sending and responding to messages, like no messages after 6 pm. And let everyone know your rule and urge them to follow a similar one.
If you have employees, delegate whenever you can. Pay particular attention to the tasks you enjoy but that are not the best use of your time. (I always struggle with this one.)
If you have a boss, learn your boss’s expectations regarding urgency. This may require a conversation. (Sorry.)
Don’t do anything sometimes. Get away from your tasks and get your tasks out of your head. Refresh your mind. Build downtime into your schedule. Take breaks. Even take a nap.
Move. Walk. Stretch. Pace back and forth. Movement of any kind is good.
Stop working for the day at a designated time. Go home. Play with the dog. Take the kids for a stroll. Or the other way round. Don’t bring work home, including email.
Silence all unnecessary dings, pings, bells, and vibrations that distract you from your work. Set a time to check emails and messages, and only look at them at that designated time.
Use the Eisenhower Matrix to sort pressing but insignificant tasks from what is actually necessary. (My version is at the bottom of this essay.)
From there you can set proper priorities to go about your day focused on the things that matter.
Don’t do all this at once. Introduce each suggestion little by little into your daily practice until you are able to break the cycle of perpetual emergency. Then you will be able to reset your work life and find balance. Not everything you do is urgent—in fact, little is—and even less is truly important.
It's time to escape the crisis doom cycle and reclaim your sanity!
How do you cope with the corporate culture of urgency? What techniques do you use to set healthy priorities?
To be a great leader you need to understand how to identify true urgency and establish priorities, and I can help.
If you want to learn more about how to become a great leader in this world of bad bosses, visit GuidanceForGreatness.com.
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