Maintaining a Sense of Urgency

By Greg Dabbs – Business Development Manager at Grafton Staffing

Sense of UrgencyI think overall there has been an increase in a lack of sense of urgency in our culture. We relax and put things off. But we need to move things forward whether it be in our personal lives or our business lives. The lack of sense of urgency can lead to things like procrastination which is a part of human nature that I think everyone has experienced at some point.

Some people have it worse than others, but we all have fallen victim to procrastination at some point. Establishing a sense of urgency will help reduce this procrastination disease as well as other negatives.

Picture yourself returning to your office from lunch. You’ve been back for about an hour when you notice you didn’t have your wallet. You realize you’ve left it at the restaurant where you had lunch! Would you say, “I think I will wait until tomorrow to go by and see if they have it in the lost and found.” No, of course not. You would double time it to your car and get there as quickly as you could. You would embody the meaning of the phrase “lighting fast”.

That is the mentality you should have often. A sense of urgency with things in your personal and professional life.

There are many ways you can adopt and maintain a sense of urgency. Here are four that might help.

  1. Be proactive not reactive.
    If you’re thinking that there is something that needs to be done, then you probably need to do it. If you think there is something wrong, there probably is and you need to address it. Being proactive is related to urgency. If you feel like you’re in an emergency situation, then you’re being reactive, not proactive. Always have the urgency to be thinking about steps you can take now to move the deal forward or solve a problem and set yourself apart.
  2. Watch out for complacency.
    Don’t take things for granted. Don’t sit on your hands. These things lead to being complacent in your environment. Finding positive energy and being confident will help prevent this behavior. Make a decision and do it. Also, remember your own values and your company’s core values. This will help you stay on track.
  3. Live the phrase “why put off until tomorrow what you can do today”.
    Don’t say you will do it later. Strike the word “tomorrow” from your vocabulary and replace it with “today” and “now”. Always be thinking ahead and get things done sooner rather than later. Then interesting thing is that when you operate this way, you are able to relax more when the time is right.
  4. Incentivize yourself.
    Reward yourself for being ahead of the game. When you accomplish a goal in a timely manner, treat yourself to a steak dinner. Leverage your brain’s reward center because it feels good and will encourage you to do it again next time. If you meet your goals by the end of the week, go buy the thing you’ve been wanting to purchase.

There’s only so much time in the day. You need to be organized and prioritize your daily routine. Finding and maintaining a sense of urgency will help you knock things off your list and help you be successful. It will help you fly, move mountains, cross the deepest valleys. Store it, remember it, live it, breath it and recognize its power. It will serve you well.