Swamped with 'urgent' but the 'unimportant'

I recently faced a situation when one can be so swamped with unimportant stuff that he/she doesn't feel time. Logically this can happen in two cases - physically, the most obvious case is when one is traveling at the speed of the light (I never said practical case) and another where the person is just pursuing something without knowing three basic rules, as Chanakya, the great strategist and politician said: "Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."

Many people are into this situation today. Even without asking this question, people take the task into their hands. We have the tendency to waste time on doing that thing rather than spending some time to think about WHY and WHAT of that.

Today, life demands are different. It asks you to be "more reactive and tied-up". But is that the right thing? A meaningful life asks for proactive behavior and it is impossible to be proactive when you do not have the patience to sit, think and understand the difference between 'urgent' and 'important'.

Taking a phone call may be urgent, but might not be important at all (read wrong number). Checking personal mails is synonymous to getting interrupts and doing something unworthy rather than spending that time for something that creates value, not only for the organization you are working for but also for yourself. Satisfaction, sense of achievement and relaxation are the peak value attributes of anyone's life. All run in life's race to reach a point of satisfaction. The irony is they become so reactive to everything, they forget what they were looking for.

I write this entry in my blog after so much time because of this same reason. I lost that long term direction and believe me, it was tough to come out of that phase and back to my clarity in life. I was carried away with the 'reactive' syndrome which not only spoiled my few days but also my mood. Feels great now as everything seems to be under control now.