Undoing Urgency — How to Stop Drowning in Tasks and Start Living With Purpose

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Feeling overwhelmed by an endless to-do list? Like you're constantly putting out fires but never getting ahead? You're not alone. Many people today feel like they're drowning in urgency — filling every minute with tasks that feel critical in the moment but may not truly matter in the long run. Here to help us understand how to escape this cycle is Matt Reynolds, a strength coach, business owner, and the author of Undoing Urgency: How to Focus on What Matters Most. Today on the show, Matt explains what creates that feeling of being overwhelmed by urgency, how to distinguish between status and true value, and why you can only effectively pursue 2-3 major goals at once. We discuss using the Eisenhower Decision Matrix to identify what tasks truly matter, how to apply the concept of "minimum effective dose" beyond just fitness, and why sometimes the pursuit of a goal matters more than achieving it. We end our conversation with concrete steps you can take today to start undoing urgency in your life.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.
0:11.4	Feeling overwhelmed by an endless to-do list, like you're constantly putting out fires but never getting ahead.
0:16.6	You're not alone.
0:17.9	Many people today feel like they're drowning in urgency, filling every minute with tasks that
0:22.0	feel critical in the moment, but may not truly matter in the long run.
0:25.9	Here to help us understand how to escape this cycle is Matt Reynolds, a strength coach, business
0:30.0	owner, and the author of Undoing Urgency, How to Focus on What Matters Most.
0:35.0	Today in the show, Matt explains what creates that feeling of being overwhelmed by urgency,
0:38.9	how to distinguish between status and true value,
0:41.1	and why you can only effectively pursue two to three major goals at once.
0:44.5	We discuss using the Eisenhower Decision Matrix to identify what tasks truly matter,
0:48.5	how to apply the concept of minimum effective dose beyond just fitness,
0:52.1	and why sometimes the pursuit of a goal matters more than achieving it. After shows over, check at our show notes at AWIM.IS slash urgency.
1:10.4	All right, Matt Reynolds.
1:12.4	Welcome back to the show.
1:13.5	Hey, man.
1:13.9	Thanks for having me.
1:14.5	It's been a while.
1:15.0	It's been a while.
1:15.6	I was looking back.
1:16.2	It was August 2022, the last time you're on the show.
1:19.5	That's, yeah.
	...

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