That grid that has “urgent” along one axis and “important” along the other axis (the Eisenhower Principle) is driven by fear. It takes an overwhelming mass of all the things and turns them into “yes, but these two things are the only ones you actually need to panic about today.”
The problem is, what do you do with the rest of the stuff?
I know there are guidelines. If it’s urgent but not important, you’re supposed to reschedule it or delegate. If it’s not urgent or important, just avoid it. If it’s important but not urgent, do it when you have time.
But in the real world, urgent but not important tasks take willpower to blow off, and sometimes the tact required is more effort than actually doing the task requires. What then? Where’s the social, long-term axis in this grid anyway? And if I move all the urgent but not important items over to urgent and important items (tell me you never do this to make a boss or a loved one happy, just try), then what? In what order should the important but not urgent items be done? By deadline? What if the deadline items aren’t as important, over the long term, and you sacrifice your dreams because someone else knew how to game the system?
“Just get rid of some of the stuff you do. Starting with the unimportant and not-urgent.”
What if I’ve already done that and I’m still overwhelmed?
It’s a bullshit grid. It’s an oversimplification by people who don’t have issues prioritizing on a daily basis in the first place.
Where is, “I’m scared to get started on this important thing that I’ve been putting off for so long that it’s urgent now, and I want to learn how to stop doing that and this @#$%^& grid isn’t helping. At all”?