The reason you feel behind and reactive in your business isn't because you are bad at time management. It's because you are trained to respond to urgent instead of focusing on important learning to distinguish between these two could be the difference between building a business that owns you versus one that serves you. Hi, I'm Cindy Gordon, the creator of the Reality Check Method, and a business coach for overwhelmed entrepreneurs. Welcome to The Overwhelmed Entrepreneur Podcast and welcome to the Overwhelm to Action Week. We are building on yesterday's foundation of what to focus on by diving deeper into business distinctions every business owner needs to master the difference between urgent and important. If you've ever felt like you're constantly putting out fires instead of building your business strategically, this episode will change how you approach every single day. Here's what happens to most overwhelmed entrepreneurs. Your day starts with a good intention, maybe a plan, but within an hour you are responding to urgent emails, handling crisis situations, and jumping from one fire to the next. By the end of the day, you are exhausted, but you feel like you actually didn't accomplish anything meaningful. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. I see this constantly with the women I work with. They're incredibly busy. They're working long hours and staying on top of everything that feels urgent, but they're not making real progress on the things that would actually grow their business or create the life that they want. The problem isn't that you're lazy or unfocused. The problem is that our brains. Are wired to prioritize urgent over important, and our culture has trained us to believe that responding quickly to everything makes us productive. But here's the reality, check urgent rarely equals important and important, rarely feels urgent. Your brain treats urgent tasks like mini emergencies. When something feels urgent, your nervous system releases stress hormones that create a sense of urgency and focus. This feels productive in the moment, but it's actually hijacking your ability to think strategically about what really matters. Important tasks. On the other hand, don't trigger the same stress response. Building relationships, creating systems, and planning for the future or taking care of your health. These are all things that are crucial for long-term success, but they rarely feel urgent. They get pushed aside for whatever is screaming the loudest. Here's what entrepreneurs don't realize. Urgent tasks are usually about other people's priorities. While important tasks are about your priorities, when you constantly respond to the urgent, you're essentially letting other people run your business and your life. Here's a simple test that will transform how you approach every task that comes your way. When something feels urgent, ask yourself two questions. Is this actually urgent or does it just feel that way and will this actually move my business forward? Or does it just make me feel busy most of the things that feel urgent aren't actually urgent. They are just loud and the most truly important work for your business doesn't feel urgent at all. It feels optional, which is exactly why it gets pushed to the side, the secret. Successful entrepreneurs know is that urgent tasks are usually other people's priorities, while important tasks are your own. So when you're constantly responding to urgent, you are essentially letting other people run your business. Here's how to practically apply this framework to protect your sanity and actually build your business. Start each morning by asking yourself, what are the one to three most important things that I could accomplish today that would move my business forward? these, Go on your important list. Then, as tasks and requests come your way throughout the day, pause and ask, is this actually urgent or does it just feel urgent? Is this actually important or is it just loud? Most things that feel urgent can wait at least a few hours, and many can even wait until tomorrow. Create boundaries around urgent, but unimportant tasks. Set specific times to check email instead of responding immediately. Establish response time expectations with clients. Not everything needs an instant reply. Use phrases like, let me check my calendar and get back to you to create space between the request and your response. Most importantly, protect your time for important but not urgent work. This is where your real business growth happens, but it requires you to be proactive instead of reactive. Here's what I want you to remember from this episode. Urgent will always feel more important than it actually is, and important will always feel less urgent than it should. Your job as an entrepreneur isn't to respond to everything quickly, it's to focus on what actually matters. When everything feels urgent, it's your cue to pause and reality check what's actually important because when you are constantly reactive, you are not building a business. You are being employed by your own business. The entrepreneurs who build sustainable, profitable businesses that serve their lives instead of consuming them are the ones who master this distinction. They protect time for important work, create boundaries around urgent requests, and remember that their priorities matter more than other people's urgencies. This framework for distinguishing urgent from important is the core of my reality check. Method because when you can actually see what deserves your attention, you stop being overwhelmed by other people's priorities and you start building the business that you actually want you just need to start choosing important over urgent one decision at a time. And remember, you've got this. Thanks for spending these few minutes with me today. Remember, overwhelm isn't permanent. It's simply your brain's way of saying pause and take a little reality check. If this was helpful, you'll love my weekly email tips where I share the systems that keep me and hundreds of other entrepreneurs on Track Link in the show notes. If you got value in today's episode, please share it with another entrepreneur who needs that reminder. If you're loving the show, I'd be so grateful if you could leave me a quick review. It helps other overwhelmed entrepreneurs find us. Make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss your weekly dose of clarity. For more resources and to connect with me, visit exclusively cindy.com. Until next time, remember you've got this.