Over 20 years working on startups (mine and other peoples), automating marketing and operations. Multiple career holder. High school drop out, masters work in Physics. I write every week to help you grow and automate your startup.
If you want to live a happy and productive life, stop doing things urgently.
Urgency pops up all the time. Someone somewhere needs something from you immediately. This repeated urgency, whether real or false, creates anxiety to those around them.
"What happens if they need something and I'm not there to deliver?"
You start bringing your phone to the gym. You check slack in between lifting sets. You have email open on the treadmill.
You get a walking pad under your desk telling yourself you can "have it all".
Instead, you have beginnings of an anxiety disorder.
What else?
• You burnout trying to keep up with urgent requests
• You wind up working on the wrong things
• You start working when your kids need you
• You develop post-traumatic Stress disorder.
I made these same mistakes
I used to work on whatever seemed urgent. Sometimes everything was coming in at once, and things had to get done quickly. Over time, I started taking on more and more responsibility in order to "get it all out the door". I was working during dinner, late at night, early in the morning. I would often work on things which turned out to be neither urgent nor important.
This is why I want to share this with you.
Don't become a workhorse
In the book "Move" by Patty Azzarello, she describes who handles all urgent matters without question a "Workhorse".
While being a workhorse might make you feel valued, it oten means you’re seen as a dependable worker rather. You aren;t considered a candidate for promotion or bigger projects. Being a workhorse can leave you stuck because others may not want to lose their most reliable worker. To grow, you need to shift how you’re perceived and focus on showcasing your leadership potential.
As Patty says: "After all, why would anyone want to promote you and lose their work-horse? "
Instead, try treating everything as non-urgent.
If I were in that place today, I'd treat every request as one that can do later. While this sounds like both a pipe dream and a recipe for failure, it can work.
Here's the thing about urgent work requests:
its not urgent
in some cases it's unimportant
its un-necessary
By changing the urgency, you will become a greater asset:
the work will be of much higher quality
the right work will get done first
you won't work on things that don't add value.
Thinking of everything as "non-urgent" lets you discover the real needs and set priorities.
Remember - no matter how much work you do, there will still be more waiting. So focus on doing great work. Don't rush yourself and don't crush yourself.
When I finally made the change to stop trying to get everything urgent done all the time, my life was 100% better.
• I'm not rushed when I go out for a run or go to the gym.
• I'm much more focused on my kids during dinner
• My mood is 10X better and my stress is 10x lower.
I would hate to see others in the place I was in two years ago.
That's why this newsletter is only 530 words .
Take your time, and thanks for reading.
Cheers
Matt
PS: If you work in the hospital emergency, please disregard.
How we got our kids back.
My wife and I share how we got our kids off the Ipad.
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Over 20 years working on startups (mine and other peoples), automating marketing and operations. Multiple career holder. High school drop out, masters work in Physics. I write every week to help you grow and automate your startup.