Urgent? Important? Neither?

September and May are the two months of the year where I feel bombarded by the change of routine and of change of circumstance, ie whether my kids will be spending more or less time at home. The only difference between the two months is that in September they wind up, and in May they wind down. I like to stay busy, so to keep the remaining months engaging and fulfilling, September and May place me on the edge of unmanageable. I was reminded recently of the tried and true Eisenhower Decision Matrix of urgent and important tasks illustrated above. DDE said: “What’s important is seldom urgent and what’s urgent is seldom important.” In general, you’ll be happy and most productive if you spend most of your time in NOT URGENT/IMPORTANT. Long term planning, step-by-step progress, avoiding fires and marching forward. Likewise, you will be least happy and less productive in the NOT IMPORTANT/NOT URGENT quadrant. However, when I’m under stress and trying to "recalibrate my game,” I can fall into the social media hole or start to obsess about a particular news item. (Jeffrey Epstein anyone?) Most definitely the wrong box to be in. So this month, take a moment to consider Ike's wise matrix. Where are you spending your time? And let me know!