Disrupting Urgency Culture
Two weeks into working for a favorite manager of mine, she gave me a bit of unexpected feedback: slow down. I was surprised that someone who worked for a major global corporation would want anyone to slow down. She was the one reiterating to shut off our computers at the end of the work day. We never emailed each other at 2am. She expected high quality work, and enforced in us that it could be achieved by taking our time much more effectively than racing to get the work out. This may be obvious, but when you've instilled "hurry up, get it done" in yourself, that can be a hard mentality to break. The result? Our team was universally lauded as being exceptional. We had clear boundaries, clear expectations of what needed to be achieved, and clarity on what was important. In those truly urgent moments, we could distinguish them and give them the prioritization because they were out-of-the-norm.
Urgency can be good, and there are times when it’s absolutely necessary - not to be too flippant, but a heart attack is urgent. Reinforcing and upholding safety or company policy is urgent. Very rarely is the 10th email sent that day with URGENT in the subject line actually all that urgent.
When everything feels urgent it becomes pervasive and potentially indefinite. It creates a culture.
“When everything feels urgent it becomes pervasive and potentially indefinite.”
And if everything feels urgent, how can we differentiate when something is actually urgent? How can we set boundaries with work and our own expectations so we don’t constantly feel like we need to put out a fire?
Whether it’s in your personal or professional life - here are questions to ask yourself to combat urgency culture:
Is there a deadline?
If no, identify or assign the deadline. “It’s September now, I’d like your goals for the new year by November 15”
If yes, then ask who created the deadline?
If it’s you, ask yourself if you’re able to meet the deadline without sacrificing quality. If you can’t, then move the deadline. Give yourself time to think through and complete the task to a higher standard. If you’re rushing to make a personal decision, then slow down, do your research, talk to people, and think through the logistics. Don’t make a decision for the sake of making a decision. It’s more important for the action to align with your overall values and life than to “get it done”.
If it’s someone else who created the deadline, and you aren’t able to meet it, don’t be afraid to ask for support. You’ve probably heard friends or peers say, “reach out if you need me…” Reach out. If you’re getting evicted from your apartment, that is an immovable (pun intended) deadline, bring in support to help you move.
If there’s no deadline, and you’re still uncertain, assess whether it is urgent or important. Notorious organizer, President Eisenhower, is quoted as saying, “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” Pretty clever. There’s even a four quadrant matrix modeled after Eisenhower’s method of prioritization. The Urgent Important Matrix. Let’s stick with the moving metaphor for examples.
Urgent & Important = Crisis. I have 24 hours to move out of my home before the building is demolished.
Non-urgent & Important = Goals & planning. I’d like to move before the end of the year. I'll start looking for new places to live based on what I need/want for a new home.
Urgent & Non-important = Interruptions I’m about to go look at a new home, but a friend calls to catch up
Non-urgent & Non-important = Distractions I wonder where my favorite influencer bought that new hat…
“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important”
While it’s good to determine if something is truly urgent; when combating urgency culture, it’s also important to acknowledge all that you’ve accomplished.
You're doing more than you realize. When you’re on the precipice of reaching a milestone, avoid immediately racing into the next one. Don’t move the finish line just as you’re about to cross it. Take a moment to honor what you've done. It will help show you how far you've actually traveled. If you don't, and that milestone keeps moving forward, you run the risk of feeling like you're always behind and therefore need to "catch up".
When I married the love of my life I felt like a failure because I didn’t get a promotion at work. I was 30 years old and I thought I should’ve already been married and have a higher ranking title. I deprived myself of fully celebrating this major milestone by being too concerned with “falling behind” in other areas of my life. I’d convinced myself that if it doesn’t happen now, then it’ll never happen.
As a Shakespeare fan, I’ll often repeat this quote whenever racing around too much,
"Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast". It's from Romeo & Juliet, where, spoilers: the double death at the end could've been avoided if Romeo had waited just a minute longer before poisoning himself. Had he given himself a moment before taking action, Juliet would have woken up and they would have lived happily ever after. A less dramatic ending to a play, but a more sustainable way of living.
“Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast”