Breaking Free from the Tyranny of The Urgent

October 27, 2009

The past couple of weeks have been a bit hectic. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the days have been overwhelming, but they’ve definitely been stressful for me. Laborious English assignments, major calculus tests, and extra hours at work have all been stretching my brain and wearing it out. And now, quite frequently, instead of getting the sleep I need when I have the chance, I’ll stay up late into the night watching movies with my roommates or playing games or chatting with friends. I keep telling myself that these activities are helping me to relax and chill out–and they do help–but more often then not, they just leave me more exhausted the day after, with more homework and studying to catch up on.

Sunday, I spent my day developing a Sunday Ritual in order to help me refocus and prepare for the upcoming weeks. After a good breakfast, I went to my dorm room and spent a couple of hours planning out the next week. I figured that then was a good time to read Charles E. Hummel’s Tyranny of the Urgent, an article that a friend of mine gave me earlier that week. That’s when I realized that my plans for a Sunday Ritual, as well my plans for the week, were horribly incomplete.

One of the main questions addressed in Tyranny of the Urgent is this: “Is there really enough time to do all that God requires of you?” It takes a look at Jesus’ ministry and the fact that in John 17 Jesus was able to say, “I have finished the work You have given me to do.” Think about it: Jesus, in his short three-year ministry, was able to fully complete everything that God had given him to do. How is that possible? It’s because Jesus focused on the important things instead of the urgent things. (The story of Lazarus in John 11, when Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead, is an excellent example of this.)

I really wish I live the same way Jesus did. I often find myself doing the things that I shouldn’t be doing–not necessarily wrong things, but trivial, meaningless things–and leaving the important things undone. I’m focusing on the things that seem urgent and letting the essential tasks slip through. Not only does this leave me stressed and weary, but at the end of the day, I’m left with the feeling that I didn’t accomplish what was necessary. I don’t want to continue living like this. I too want to be able to say, at the end of my life, “God, I’ve finished the work that you have given me to do. I accomplished the important stuff.”

But how do I break free from this cycle? I always seem to focus on the urgent–those tasks that seem important at the time, the things that need to be done NOW, not later. How can I discern these things from the truly important?

Hummel points out that the key to breaking free is found in Mark 1:35: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (NIV). By daily prayerfully seeking his Father’s will, Jesus was able to focus on what was truly important, God’s will, and avoid the urgent, seemingly-important things. This is what I need to do: before making any of my own plans, I should consult with God daily and wait for His instructions. Then, I should plan out my day, putting focus on just the important things, and work to accomplish those.

I’m also planning going to add an extra hour or so to my Sunday Ritual to do some “spiritual inventory,” where I’ll look back on the past week and see where I succeeded in accomplishing the spiritually important, and where I failed, and plan for the upcoming week.

So here’s the plan for my Sunday Ritual:

  • Wake up and eat breakfast (or lunch, depending on how late I wake up). Bring along two books: The Bible, and another nonfiction book on the Christian life (right now, it’s Blue Like Jazz). Take an hour or so reading both, starting with the Bible, and get my mind going. Take notes. Look for applications.
  • Go to the library (or another quiet spot) and spend a couple hours evaluating the previous week and preparing for the one ahead. Consult with the Big Man Upstairs and determine what things I did well, and what things I need to improve. Plan out my class schedule, figuring out what tests and projects are coming up, and schedule specific dates and times to study or work on these.
  • Relax. Take a walk, read a book, practice juggling…just spend time doing things that don’t require a lot of brain power.
  • Spend another couple of hours working on (important) things that are coming up in the next week. Do some studying. Knock down some projects.
  • Go to church.
  • Sketch out a specific schedule for Monday. Then spend the rest of the evening relaxing.

I’m pretty sure that, for the first few weeks, I’ll have trouble keeping this ritual. But, hopefully, after some time this will become habit. Hopefully, but waiting on God’s instruction, planning out a specific schedule, and steering clear of urgent distractions, I’ll slowly break away from the tyranny of the urgent and start doing what’s really important.

 

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