14) Most Things Make No Difference; Focus Only on What Does
“Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action…It’s easy to get caught in a flood of minutiae, and the key to not feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time is actually lack of priorities.” ~Tim Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek
Like everyone else, I find myself feeling spread too thin at times, sacrificing things I want to do for things I feel I must do. But almost without exception, the tasks and projects that felt extremely urgent at the time (and led to sacrifices in sleep, nutrition, exercise, and time with family and friends) proved to be unimportant, and often meaningless, a short time later.
While I still fall into the “urgency” trap now and again, before I stay up all night or skip a workout because something “has to be done today or the world will end”, I test the task or project at hand against the following criteria:
- Is it inline with my core values and goals?
- Is the sacrifice of time, energy, or money worth it?
- Will I still think this is important in 5 years?
Next: 15) There is Enough Time to Do What Really Matters Return to the List
