living in quadrant two

Everything we do in life can be categorised as being urgent, not urgent, important and not important and it is the combination of these states of being which will decide whether our life is calmly productive, slightly frenetic, in a constant state of heightened reaction, or so laid back we are almost horizontal and getting things done is a vague concept we heard about once in passing. 

Calmly productive is the ideal, by the way. Despite the melodrama that comes with putting out fires and living off adrenalin, it's really not that zen.

So. These are the combos presented in a nicely designed matrix by Stephen Covey; American educator, businessman and author of the popular book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Why even try and come up with my own version of this when it has already been done so well? 

	URGENT	NOT URGENT
IMPORTANT	Quadrant I: Urgent & Important	Quadrant II: Not Urgent & Important
NOT IMPORTANT	Quadrant III: Urgent & Not Important	Quadrant IV: Not Urgent & Not Important

Quadrant One is for crises and emergencies. They are at the top of the to-do list and have to be done today. There's a certain amount of zing involved in these tasks. There's a bit of heart-racing, panting, frowning and maybe even a light sweat with this one. If only figuratively. "Will I make it in time? Will I get it done?" is the background chant to this quadrant.

Quadrant Two is all about prevention, planning and improvement. These are the tasks that aren't due until tomorrow, but if we don't do them, then in the future they will enter quadrant one and become more urgent. They are a priority, but not a top notch one. The reason why this is a good quadrant to sit in is because it allows for more forward planning and creative thinking. When we are calm and productive, we also have time and energy and a certain sense of self-satisfaction that allow for this. 

Quadrant Three is the zone of interruption. Emails, telephone calls, some meetings. They're not necessarily important but they are things we may have to deal with in the moment. Simply because they are happening now. But these things are in the third quadrant which does mean that they are third on the list of priorities and should be treated as such.

Quadrant Four can be seen in both negative and a positive light. In terms of getting things done, quadrant four is about distraction. Sometimes seen as time wasters, the kind of activities that go on in this zone are checking Facebook, watching television as an alternative to getting on with other tasks, and busy, yet meaningless work. But quadrant four can also be quite nice. No sense of urgency or importance is quite relaxing. It's just not that productive long term.

We do tend to have personalities that veer quite sharply towards a particular approach and they probably feel quite happy functioning within the parameters of that quadrant. For example, Quadrant One thinkers focus on deadline driven projects and activities where they get to use the high pressure hose on sudden blazes. On the other hand, Quadrant Two personalities think beyond the present and aim to build long term capabilities.

Which is why living in quadrant two is the way to go. Getting things done, feeling successful, keeping calm and carrying on.

Another way of labelling the quadrants might be hell, happy place, stop annoying me and silly. 

Go to your happy place. Now.