A lot of people make the mistake of turning down important work due to urgent work that comes up suddenly.

A task requiring immediate attention is an urgent task, whereas important tasks are those that when they're done, they will add value to the organization.

Some tasks are neither urgent nor important, but as these time-wasting tasks are in front of us, we end up consuming our time with them. These include:

• Browsing social media
• Reading junk articles and posts
• Playing distracting games.

Urgent tasks are the ones that are not adding any value but come up to be done at that moment. The right approach is to avoid the urgent and focus on the important.

Example: Answering a phone call can seem urgent, due to its ringing, but it may not be that important.

Many tasks fall into the urgent and important category and have to be prioritized in your to-do list as critical.

Focus on completing these tasks first.

Tasks that are important but not urgent are the most neglected. These include researching, documenting, planning and organizing.

Set aside time for important tasks, even though they don't appear urgent.