In case you haven’t been told yet, a writer does not only write.
Maybe that was the case once upon a time, but that is definitely not the case now. A writer now has to factor in time to market the book and themselves, network with writers and readers, update their website, send newsletters, design graphics, and the list goes on. If a writer doesn’t have the skills to do these things themself, then they’re stuck going without or spending the time finding a virtual assistant to do these things for them.
And the day stubbornly refuses to stretch itself beyond our allotted twenty-four hours. Isn’t that peachy?
That’s why I’m grateful to have the urgency-importance matrix in my back pocket. When I have a tremendous amount on my plate for the day or week—so much so that even looking at my bullet journal induces anxiety—I rip out a sheet of paper and actually know how I’m going to tackle things using this method. Today, I’m sharing it with you.
Take a deep breath, download and print the free worksheets we have for you, and let’s organize your writing life together, shall we?
Step 1: Brainstorming, or Make Your List
Getting started is always the most daunting part, so what we can do is promise ourselves we won’t be at this forever. (Not that you have that luxury anyway—there’s stuff to do!) Set a timer for fifteen, twenty, or thirty minutes and write out all of the action items that have been floating around in your mind.
I’ve included both a structured and unstructured worksheet to accompany this step. One might work better for your brain than the other, and that’s okay! Or use both—the first to write out the tasks, the other to break those tasks into steps. If you run out of room, print out more sheets!
Step 2: Urgent? Important?
Let’s define these terms as they relate to the matrix because we can often confuse one kind of task for another in our minds. “Urgent” means the task demands to be completed sooner rather than later, lest there be consequences. “Important” means the task can’t or shouldn’t fall by the wayside, lest there be consequences.
Of course, what kinds of tasks fall under urgent or important will change with the season. You might find sending a newsletter out to be neither urgent nor important when you’re busy writing, but once the book or poetry collection is on pre-order, suddenly it feels like the most important thing in the world. How can you tell what’s what?
By keeping your writing goals in mind. They are your guiding light. (If you’ve joined The Write Gym, you should have in your inbox a set of worksheets to help you get these down on paper.) Don’t get distracted by shiny objects or opportunities, and go with your gut.
On the Make Your List page, we’ve got two columns you can place checkmarks in to notate whether the task is urgent and/or important. If you’re using the Brainstorming page, you may want to try highlighting your tasks in different colors, like so:
- Green for tasks that are urgent and important
- Yellow for tasks that are not urgent, but are important
- Orange for tasks that are urgent, but not important
- Pink for tasks that are neither urgent nor important
Step 3: Plan + Execute
Begin transferring the tasks to the worksheet titled Plan + Execute. If applicable, jot down a deadline beside each task. Tell your friends, critique group, or our online community about the deadlines to make sure you stick to them!
Now that they’ve been organized, it’s a matter of actually completing the tasks. I find it helpful to assign one of the four d’s to each of the quadrants.
Quadrant 1 (Urgent and Important): Do
These are self-explanatory. If something is both urgent and important, you can’t put it off any longer. Even if they’re unpleasant, multi-stepped, and difficult, these tasks are demanding your attention, and you should give it to them. You’ll feel better after you do.
Quadrant 2 (Not Urgent, Important): Decide
You need to decide when to do these tasks. Schedule them in your planner, bullet journal, or on the all-important sticky note next to your laptop’s touchpad. These are the kinds of tasks that tend to slip our minds now, then cause us to panic and rush through them later. Let’s avoid that as best we can by telling ourselves in advance when we’re going to do them and stick to it.
Quadrant 3 (Urgent, Not Important): Delegate
Whenever possible, these tasks should go to someone else to complete instead of you. Depending on where you are in life, that might be impossible. It’s usually impossible for me. So what’s the alternative?
You’re going to save these tasks for the end of your working day, after you’ve spent time working on your tasks in Quadrant 1. These tasks—think answering correspondence and other interruptions—don’t or shouldn’t require a large amount of brain power, so saving them for the end of the day allows you to spend your energy on what’s important.
I also like to complete these tasks during transitional phases of the day. For example, if you’ve received an email from me lately, it was probably dictated while I was waiting for a file to upload or download!
Quadrant 4 (Not Urgent, Not Important): Delete
Again, is this always possible? No. But as often as you can, shove these tasks off your plate altogether. These will always tempt you to stray from your course. They’re busy work and time-wasters, and you don’t need them in your life! You’re busy enough as it is!
If you simply can’t delete anything from your to do list, then leave these for dead last during your working day. If a majority of these tasks are actually what you consider fun, as is often the case with me, make them the rewards you give yourself when you’ve completed something in Quadrants 1 or 2. Do I need to make yet another book cover for a project I won’t tackle for years? No, but it sure is fun!
