We are so busy doing the urgent that we don't have time to do the important. —Confucius

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My friend had an unexpected trip to the hospital this weekend.

As soon as I heard, I dropped everything.

All of our plans for the weekend took a back seat.

The most important thing in that moment was my friend and his well being.

Thankfully, after an ambulance ride and good medical care, he is doing well.

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As always, there is a business lesson from this experience.

When something matters enough, you make time for it.

Instead of your calendar (filled with prior commitments) controlling your day, you control your calendar.

This weekend was an extreme example of that, but you have days like this all the time:

• An urgent request that requires your full & immediate attention
• A multi-day offsite
• A business trip
• Vacations where you fully unplug (hopefully you do on all of them!)

The point is this.

When something matters, you schedule around it.

Which raises a question:

What matters enough in your day to schedule around?

Family and personal items may be on the list.

Requests and assignments from others may be on the list.

What about the work projects that you believe are critical?

Have you blocked time to do work that advances both the company’s success and your personal success?

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Try this thought experiment.

If you had blocked the whole week for an offsite which was cancelled at the last minute,

And you found yourself looking at an empty calendar for the week,

How would you fill it?

With random meetings and requests that come in from others?

Or with important work that creates impact and visibility?

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It doesn’t have to take an ambulance to clear your schedule.

It requires only an awareness of what really matters to you.

When it’s important, you’ll make the time.

What’s important to you this week?

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To a high impact week,

P.S. I would have loved to write a great April fools edition today, but my calendar was otherwise occupied over the weekend. Happy April Fool's Day!

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