When was the last time you asked yourself, “What is most important to me right now?” The most important thing in our live changes frequently. But if we don’t ask the question, we might not be putting our effort where it counts. A big component of burnout is realizing that we have filled our day doing lots of stuff that doesn’t matter, and what is currently truly important to us, was left undone.
I recently experienced the idea of doing the most important thing first, after being sick for three weeks. I got behind on everything while I was ill. When I was able to function normally again, it was important to prioritize what I spent time on.
I am currently writing a musical about the life of physicians. Two of the songs in that musical were selected to be performed in a fall showcase of upcoming musicals. It is a teaser of six shows that will be performed here in the next few years. As the deadlines for the upcoming show rapidly approached, I realized I had gotten behind when I lost my voice during my illness.
With the deadline approaching, all my effort each day went into the musical. Everything else in my life took a back seat. I had laser focus on my current highest priority item. An item that had great meaning to me. This helped me catch up and turn in my musical scores for the show.
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There are many times in life when one aspect takes the highest priority. How we handle those moments determines our attitude about our life. Here are a few examples of times when the most important thing can shape our lives.
Procrastination
Sometimes putting off doing something, because it was not a current high priority, eventually leads to it becoming the highest priority. I remember many moments like this in college. I watched people, including me, put off things that were important but had a later due date, to do things that were fun and frankly of little importance.
Then as the deadline approached and everything else needed to take a back seat to the deadline, the all-nighter occurred. Even sleep got pushed aside as being less important than meeting the deadline for turning in a paper.
Not handling important things in a timely manner leads to unnecessary urgency as deadlines approach. This urgency can be bad for our health when we start neglecting eating well, getting enough sleep, and forgoing exercise all because we failed to plan well.
My office nurse used to say, “Poor planning on your part does not make an emergency on my part.” When given the opportunity to do important things at a leisurely pace, we should begin the task right away and work on it at a comfortable pace. Don’t let important things get so far behind that they become urgent things at the expense of everything else. It didn’t need to be that way.
Health Scares
I’ve seen many people change their priorities and their lives when they or a loved one have a health scare. A heart attack, cancer or stroke come to mind.
Smoking is terrible for your body. People are often asked to quit, but they refuse or say they tried but could not quit. Then they are diagnosed with emphysema, or a chest x-ray shows a mass. Suddenly they quit. To stop smoking suddenly became the most important thing in their life and it became easy to quit.
When something we should do is not important to us, we don’t do it. But when circumstances change and it becomes the most important thing in our life, change becomes easy.
Pending disaster
We had a recent wildfire near our home. We could see the smoke rising on the other side of a nearby ridge with airplanes and helicopters hard at work. Our home was not in the path of the fire, but I have a friend who was only a few blocks away from the fire and was in a ‘get ready to evacuate’ area.
He told me that suddenly the things he thought were important in his life, transformed into just stuff. Yes, he would like to keep all his stuff, but if he had to run from a fire, he realized what was truly important. His life was the most important thing on his mind.
I’m not sure I could have gone to sleep that night if our home was so close to a wildfire and in a possible evacuation zone.
When buying stuff for our homes, at the time it feels like the most important thing to get just the right sofa, or just the right television. We spend a great deal of time researching which TV to buy before shopping for the best deal. Only to realize, as the wildfire approaches the house, that the TV is irrelevant. Maybe the time used to make such an “important” purchase, could have been better spent on other things. Things that were truly important. But if we don’t ask, we won’t know what those things are.
Nearing the end of life
Over the last decade I have watched several people face the end of their life. They each knew they were going to die very soon. Suddenly they had a change of heart about what things they thought were important.
One person who has loved putting together puzzles for as long as I’ve known her, was asked what puzzle she was working on. To my surprise, she said, “Puzzles are a waste of time.” When she thought she had lots of time, she liked doing puzzles. When she realized she had only a few weeks left on this earth, she felt a lot differently toward using her time for puzzles.
I suspect if she would have asked herself “What is the most important thing in my life right now?” her answer wouldn’t have been a puzzle. Since she never asked, she simply filled her time with something she enjoyed that was actually not important to her. How different her life might have been if she had filled her time with things she felt were very important.
New baby
When a new child comes into the family, big changes happen. Instantly the baby becomes the most important thing in that family’s schedule, as everything now revolves around the baby’s schedule.
Often, new mothers complain that they can’t get anything done. If they would only ask themselves “What is the most important thing in my life right now?” they would realize they are getting the most important thing done.
It is always enough to get the most important thing done. Life drastically changes for the new mom, and if she fails to change with it, she feels unproductive. But coming to the realization that the most important thing in her life is getting done well, she can feel a great deal of accomplishment.
Not focusing on the important things in life is a setup for dissatisfaction. “I didn’t get anything done today,” is a common complaint when we lose focus. I’ve had that feeling numerous times. But on the days when I focus on what is important, I always end the day very satisfied.
Ask yourself every morning, “What is the most important thing for me to do today?” and start there. It can be the only item on your to-do list for the day. If you do that one thing, your day is successful. Don’t fill the day with little things that don’t matter. Fill your day with what is truly important to you, and you will always end the day feeling satisfied.
If you want to be a high performer, make sure you are performing well where it counts and not just checking things off a list. Life is too short to worry about little things. Spend your life doing the things that matter most to you, and you will leave this world satisfied.
If your job feels unsatisfying to you, pick up a copy of The Doctors Guide to Finding Joy in Your Work on Amazon. The thing that uses most of your week should be something you enjoy.
