I’ve always loved Stephen Covey’s four quadrants. I may be mis-labeling because I read 7 Habits about ten years ago. But everything we do falls into one of these four quadrants:

Q1: Urgent and Important
Q2: Important but Not Urgent
Q3: Urgent but Not Important
Q4: Not Urgent and Not Important

I think we tend to neglect Q2. I find myself spending too much time in Q3 doing things that are urgent but not important and too little time in Q2 doing things that are important but not urgent.

As Covey says, “Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the urgent.”

That is so true and so convicting!

I just felt like I wanted to process what I’m wrestling with right now. My most important time is spent praying on the rooftop of Ebenezers or reading at a coffeehouse. But I have so many emails to answer!

I’m really trying to reprioritize my life right now. I don’t want to get sucked into the blackhole called urgent. Seems to me like prayer and bible study are Q2 disciplines. In fact, it seems like all the spiritual disciplines are Q2. They don’t feel urgent, but they are so important.

I’m trying to get back to Q2!