The Tyranny of the Urgent

Photo by Andy Beales on Unsplash

Only a few days ago, I hired a new employee. In her review at the end of her first week, I related that my professional life has been governed by chaos. Like so many, for years I’ve worn my “busyness” as a badge of honor; feeling, at least on some level, important because of how much I have to do.

In the last eight months, I’ve taken on more professionally than I have in a long time. I sometimes travel for days at a time, leave home for work early when I am home, often come home late, and continue my work sometimes well into the night.

“Times and seasons,” I tell myself, and while there is certainly some truth to our need for gainful employment to provide for a family, I’ve started questioning my own narrative.

The term “tyranny of urgency” isn’t a new one. Charles E. Hummel is credited with coining the term in 1967. It refers to one or more situations where the constant pressure and demand for immediate attention (or action) undermines what is actually important with something masquerading as such. It’s a pressure that often becomes overwhelming, gets in the way of good decision-making, and hinders doing things in the right order. In one definition, it is described as a “state in which urgency dominates and dictates the pace and focus of one’s activities to the detriment of a more deliberate and strategic approach.”

There are times when what’s urgent is also what’s important: taking time away from a job to care for a sick family member, visiting someone who is in ill health or lonely instead of engaging in a sporting event, taking time to listen to a coworker who is struggling with a problem instead of getting that report done.

There are a few characteristics that define this tyranny of urgency:

1. Constant pressure. These are real and perceived situations that demand an immediate response.
2. Short-Term Focus. Often, urgent but less important things prioritize short-term solutions over long-term strategies, leading to reactive rather than proactive approaches to challenges.
3. Stress and Burnout. When urgent tasks interrupt focus on more important things, unnecessary stress develops. Prolonged exposure to that kind of stress often leads to burnout.