Do you ever feel like, “Even though I’m busy every day, I’m not making progress on the things I really want to do?” Many business professionals fall into this problem, but it can be solved by sorting your tasks based on “urgency” and “importance.”

• Area 1 (Urgent and Important): Complaint handling, work with imminent deadlines (do it now)
• Area 2 (Not Urgent, but Important): Skill development, networking, health management (this is the most important)
• Area 3 (Urgent, but Not Important): Sudden phone calls, unnecessary meetings (reduce them)
• Area 4 (Neither Urgent nor Important): Time-wasting SNS, excessive entertainment (stop it)

“The most important thing is to give the most important things the most important attention.” — Stephen R. Covey

How you increase the time allocated to Area 2 is the key to long-term success.