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…