When Everything Feels Urgent: 10 Questions to Help You Prioritize What Actually Matters

You should know this about me. I listen for patterns. When I hear something enough times, I start questioning what is behind it.

I was interviewing someone recently and they said something that I keep thinking about because I hear it in so many spaces.

They were talking about how they work and said they have a hard time slowing down. They have a lot of ideas, and when a good idea comes, they want to move on it quickly because they can already see what it could become.

I understood exactly what they meant.

I love a good idea. I love people who see possibilities, who can see how something could be better and want to figure out how to make it happen. As I listened, though, I kept thinking about the word urgency.

What is actually urgent?

I think we use that word for a lot of different things. Something needs our attention, so it's urgent. Someone wants an answer, so it's urgent. Our boss asks about something, so now it's urgent. We have a great idea and suddenly we need to move on it.

Are all of those things actually urgent?

In my experience, very few things are. We move too quickly sometimes because we haven't stopped long enough to figure out what actually requires us to move now.

Over the years, I've had to learn how to prioritize when everything feels urgent and make sense of what actually needs my attention now. The first question for me isn't How quickly can we do this? It's Why does this need to happen now?

There are things that are truly urgent because waiting has a real consequence. There may be a deadline we can't move, a student or employee situation that requires immediate attention, a compliance issue, a safety concern or an opportunity that will actually disappear if we don't act.

There are also things that are strategically important and need to begin now. That doesn't mean they should be done quickly.

Maybe we need to start now because the work will take six months. Maybe we need to bring the right people together first. Maybe we don't know enough yet. Maybe there is already something happening that we need to understand before we create something new. Maybe the process isn't in place. Maybe we don't have the people or the money yet.

The work may need to start now. That doesn't mean we need to rush it.

There are also things that feel urgent because somebody else wants them quickly. I still want to understand why. What happens if we don't respond immediately? What changes? Who is impacted? Is there actually a consequence to waiting?

A really good idea can create its own sense of urgency too.

This one can be hard, particularly for leaders who are good at getting things done. You can already see the possibility. You know how to make it happen. You're excited about it, so you're ready to go.

I get it.

A good idea still isn't automatically a priority, and a priority isn't automatically urgent.

I keep coming back to the same question:

Why now?

Not Why is this important?

Why does it need to happen now?

If we wait 30 days, what happens? What about 60? What changes? What opportunity do we lose? Who is affected? What gets worse? What can't move until this moves?

If I can't answer those questions, I have to question whether what I'm feeling is actually urgency.

The idea may still be good. The work may absolutely be important. The timing may not be right. Something may need to happen now, but not everything needs to happen now. Sometimes the answer is simply, not yet.

I've had to learn that not yet and no are not the same thing.

Something else I've learned over the years is that every time I say yes to something new, that work has to go somewhere. Someone has to do it.

I want to know what we're already carrying before I add something else. What did we say we were going to accomplish this year? What is the team already working on? What have we already committed to? Who needs to be involved? Do they actually have the bandwidth? Is there money for it? What is this going to require from people who already have full plates?

If we decide this really does need to happen now, then I also want to know what we're going to do differently to make room for it.

I've watched and been part of organizations that continue to add priorities without really taking anything away. People are busy. They are working incredibly hard. There is a lot happening. None of that necessarily means the organization is getting closer to the goal it said mattered most.

Part of leading is deciding what we're going to do. It is also being clear about what we're not going to do right now.

The Questions I Ask Before I Move

I don't think there is one formula for deciding what is urgent. Context matters. I do think we need some criteria. Otherwise, whoever is applying the most pressure can determine what gets our attention. Whatever is sitting directly in front of us gets our attention. Sometimes the idea we're most excited about gets our attention.

I don't want to lead that way.

These are some of the questions I've learned to ask:

1. Why does this need to happen now? What is actually creating the urgency?

2. What happens if we wait? What changes if we do this in 30, 60 or 90 days?

3. How does this connect to the larger strategy? Does this move us toward something we've already said matters? Where does it fit?

4. What are we already committed to? What did we say we were going to accomplish this year?

5. What has to move to make room for this? If we're adding something, what gets delayed, changed or taken off the plate?

6. Who needs to be involved? Who is actually going to do the work? Do they have the capacity?

7. What needs to be in place to do this well? Do we have the people, money, process, information and time? If we don't, what needs to happen first?

8. What is already happening that we can build on? Who is already doing this? What can we strengthen instead of creating something else?

9. Can we sustain it? I'm not only interested in whether we can get something started. Who is going to carry it six months from now? A year from now?

10. Are we solving something, or are we reacting to something? What problem are we actually trying to solve? Will this solve it?

    
    

I don't sit down with these ten questions every time somebody sends me an email. That would make me crazy. I do know that when something suddenly feels like it has to happen right now, that's probably a good time for me to ask a few more questions.

When Someone Else Brings You Their Urgency

This is also part of how I lead other people.

Someone comes to me excited about an idea and ready to move. I may already know they don't have the bandwidth. Their team may be stretched. I may know this doesn't connect to what we agreed they were going to focus on this year.

I don't always want to be the person who tells them yes or no. I want them to be able to make sense of it too.

I may ask:

• How does this fit with what you said you were going to accomplish this year?

• What is already on your plate?

• What is already on your team's plate?

• Who else needs to be involved?

• What is this going to cost in money, time and capacity?

• Is somebody already doing something we can build on?

• Why does this have to happen now?

• What happens if it doesn't?

• What are you willing to take off your plate to make room for this?

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That last question tends to change the conversation.

It is easy to be excited about adding something when we haven't had to think about what adding it will require.

I don't want people who work with me to stop bringing me ideas. Please bring me the ideas. I want people around me who think, question, see possibilities and believe we can make things better.

I also want them to develop the judgment to know when an idea needs movement now, when it needs more thought and when it may be a great idea that we need to hold for later.

If I make that decision for them every single time, I'm not helping them develop that judgment.

Sometimes I need to ask enough questions for them to get there themselves.

Moving quickly isn't the goal. Moving slowly isn't the goal either.

There are times when we need to move quickly. There are times when we need to start now and give the work the time it needs to be done well. There are also times when I need to be able to say, This is a really good idea. Just not right now.

I want to know why I'm moving, what I'm moving toward and why this particular thing needs my attention now.

I want to know why I'm moving at the speed I'm moving.

Questions for Reflection

• What feels urgent to you right now? What is actually making it urgent?

• What would happen if you didn't move on it right now?

• What have you continued to add without deciding what needs to come off the plate?

• When someone you lead brings you their urgency, are you making the decision for them or helping them learn how to make it?

• What is sitting on your plate right now that may be a not yet?

  
  

About the Author

Debra Y. Griffith, Ed.D. is an executive leader, strategist, coach and founder of Do Better Coaching & Consulting. She writes about leadership from more than 30 years of experience leading inside educational institutions and working with leaders navigating complexity, change and organizational transformation.