This day in age it’s easy to fall into the trap of urgency.  Everything can seem urgent…emails, texts, voicemails, family demands, you name it.  But the truth of the matter is that there are very few emergencies.  In my 10+ years in business I have had 2 actual emergencies, one was a fire in my spa and the other was a flood. However, I have reacted to countless situations like they were emergencies, wasting precious adrenaline and probably taking years off my life.  But, as a good introspective lady does, I have learned from these moments and now even things that need immediate attention don’t get my heart racing.

Here are the 5 ways in which I have learned to manage urgency with ease:

1) Take a step back and look at whether the situation is actually urgent, or even necessary of immediate action.  The answer is almost always, no.  But, if the answer is yes, proceed with action.  You have a choice at this point whether you are going to be stressed by this action or not.  Either way, you have to take the action, so my recommendation is to skip the stress – it doesn’t add to the experience in any way.

2) Fear.  You’ve got to drop it like it’s hot.  If every opportunity that comes across your email account is reacted to with feverish need like a new teenage relationship – this is actually fear.  Fear that you will miss the opportunity and never again will another one arise.  The truth is, you can, and will, manage what is most important.  Being in business does, sometimes, require swift action – but that does not mean that you have to do it all right now.  It does mean that you have to have a system for capturing the important stuff and getting it in front of you when you have the time for addressing it.

3) This brings me to using your calendar.  Your calendar is your best friend.  I don’t care if it can’t drink wine with you and chat about relationships – it will save your ass in a way that nobody else can!  When something comes up and it feels urgent – put it on your calendar.  You may have to move other things that are less pressing, that is fine…calendars are flexible that way.  But you must get it written down or you will keep it in your mind and be less effective at everything else you are trying to get done.

4) You do not, and I repeat not, have to write a saga in response to every email you get.  I know you want to take care of your clients and show them that you love them.  You can totally do this while keeping it short, simple, and clear.  You can even program your email with canned responses that you can insert and personalize.  Email is a huge source of anxiety to many entrepreneurs and we want to get right back to everyone – which is fine, but you can’t dedicate your whole day to lengthy emails when you have other fish to fry.

5) Communicate everything necessary.  When you have an urgent matter, like a truly urgent matter, you must communicate immediately, effectively and clearly to your team or anyone that will be affected.  Delayed or muddled communication causes undue stress.  Again, this does not mean lengthy communications (unless necessary), it means giving honest, straight forward, and necessary information to those that need it, when they need it.

If you apply these suggestions to your life I guarantee you that those feelings of urgency will start to subside and a sense of ease will prevail.