
The urgency trap is a tendency to prioritize tasks based on their urgency instead of their importance.
This happens because, as studies have shown, our attention is usually drawn to time-sensitive tasks over tasks that are less urgent even when the less urgent task offers greater rewards.
So it’s not surprising that a lot of people in the workplace are caught in this trap. And many of them are ‘busy’ people as they are usually fixated on task duration making them more likely to select urgent tasks with lower payouts. In any case, if you’re already feeling a time crunch, you’ll likely continue to prioritize tasks that keep you focused on the clock.
This can lead to a reactive approach to work, where you’re constantly firefighting and scrambling to meet deadlines.
And, as a result, the urgency trap has negative consequences. They include:
- Missed deadlines
- Mounting stress
- Reduced ability to think creatively
- Difficulty solving problems
- Poor decision making
- Hindered long-term growth
But there’s good news too – the urgency trap can be avoided.
The most effective way to do so, which I recommend, is to use the Eisenhower Matrix. Here are the concepts and how the matrix can be used.
All activities can be classified by its urgency (Urgent or Not Urgent) and by its importance (Important or Not Important).
Important activities are activities that will help you complete your goals.
Urgent activities are activities that demand immediate attention and often have deadlines attached to them.
Different combinations of these two create the Eisenhower Matrix with four quadrants as illustrated in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1
Quadrant 1: Activities that are important and urgent – things with clear deadlines and consequences for not taking immediate action.
For example:
- Fixing an office power generator that stopped working at peak work period
- Responding to some emails
- Working on deadline-driven clients’ projects
- Answering vital customer calls
Quadrant 2: Activities that are important but not urgent – things without a set deadline but they bring you closer to your goals.
For example:
- Strategic planning
- Capability improvement like reading, learning, and education
- Eating healthy and exercising
- Preventative maintenance on important work tools and facilities
- Forming bonds and strengthening important relationships
Quadrant 3: Activities that are urgent but not important – things that require immediate attention but do not contribute to your goals.
For example:
- Unnecessary interruptions from coworkers
- Checking and responding to WhatsApp or Facebook messages
- Attending inconsequential meetings
- Drop in visitors
Quadrant 4: Activities that are not urgent and not important – time wasting activities that make you feel worse afterward.
For example:
- Avoidance activities such as sorting and organizing emails rather than responding to them
- Irrelevant phone calls
- Workplace gossip
- Mindless online browsing and chatting
Looking at the quadrants, the one with activities that offer the greatest rewards is Quadrant 2. Hence to avoid the urgency trap, start spending more time in Quadrant 2. And to do so you need to free up the time you usually spend in other quadrants as illustrated in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2
Taking the following steps will help:
- Look at all the things in Quadrant 4 and STOP DOING THEM!
- Look at all the things in Quadrant 3 and stop doing them too. This is more difficult as it involves saying NO to people. But stop doing them. Delegate them, if possible. It’s important that you escape from this quadrant because that’s where the urgency trap is primarily domiciled.
With more time now available, channel it towards Quadrant 2 activities (important but not urgent things) before they become urgent and pop up in Quadrant 1 as pressing problems.
In Quadrant 2, where highly effective people spend most of their time, you are focused not on problems (as in Quadrant 1) but on opportunities and growth. When urgent issues arise (Quadrant 1 activities), they are truly urgent because you are proactive.
So, put simply, avoiding the urgency trap using Eisenhower Matrix is about using the matrix to distinguish between the Urgent and the Important and prioritizing tasks accordingly.
One thing that is crucial to know is that urgency is a master manipulator. It screams the loudest, demanding immediate attention, even if the long-term impact is negligible. Hence, it’s important to always question urgency. Ask yourself if each task is truly urgent, or if it can be scheduled for later. A productive day isn’t about completing the most tasks; but rather the right tasks.