So many times we manage our affairs on a crisis basis. Only the things that are extremely urgent get handled immediately. The bills get paid so the lights stay on. We pick up the phone when it rings. We have to run an "important errand" — there's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. We need that new car — today. There's a huge sale at Sak's. The report was due yesterday. Some of these things are important; some are just distractions. Unfortunately, in order to get the monkey off our back we jump to take care of trivial urgencies. Time being limited, we sometimes put off the things that don't seem extremely urgent at the time but are so important to living fulfilled and happy lives over the long term. — Tod Barnhart, The Five Rituals of Wealth

I think this is what Barnhart is getting at: Try to spend less time on minor emergencies, and more time on core values and high priorities.

Easy to say; tough to do.

But necessary.