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For many years now, I’ve been a Franklin-Covey devotee. For decades it’s been live changing/life affirming in the richest way possible. At one point, I was recruited to be a training facilitator. That didn’t align with my objectives, but was very flattering, and shows my commitment to these principles.

Anyway, this week brought several reminders of all that. First, my son is getting introduced to the concepts more formally. He’s enjoying the fact he knows all the concepts. And it’s very satisfying to hear that attributed to my teachings.

Also, at my latest team meeting, my boss broke out my beloved “Importance/Urgency” grid. (Side note: I understand that this was developed by Eisenhower, but I was introduced to this by Steven Covey.)

As we were talking, the group was talking about focusing on quadrant I, what I call the hyper-urgent. Mostly, this is the land if crises and drama. No, we don’t want to live in this space. Of course it needs to be dealt with; they only become more dramatic with neglect. But our goal must be to spend as little time in this space as necessary.

Quadrant II, the “non-urgent but important” is where we need to focus, and where the others 3 quadrants distract us from. Planning, developing, growing, learning and building our relationships all help prevent the crises of quadrant I. This is the area that grows our sphere of influence, too.

Moving our focus “above the line”, only on the important is the real focus, and the real challenge. It requires forethought, planning, and consideration, all of which help define “important”, and keep us focused on it. All quadrant II activities. See how this works?