Quadrant II!

"Quadrant II Time Management" is so named because of the importance of doign things which are Important, but Non-Urgent (Quadrant II). These are things such as planning, working ahead, working on things that are important, but not presenting themselves as Urgent right now.

The more you can focus on Quadrant II, the more productive you will be.

Consider this RA-related example: A fire alarm goes off in your building at 9pm (Quadrant I). You have a test tomorrow at 8am, but the Fire Department doesn't let anyone in until all 290 rooms have been opened and checked. You don't get back into the building until 10:30pm. When you finally get back into the building, a resident comes to you to tell you about her roommate Helen, who she things is suicidal (Quadrant I). You call your Hall Director, who wants to meet with you right away (Quadrant I). You meet with your HD for 20 minutes to fill her in on the situation, then you both sit down with the Helen, the resident you are concerned about. Thankfully, she is OK and will visit the counseling center with you tomorrow.

You still haven't been able to study for your test, have you? It's now 1:00am, and the resident is OK, but you are physically and emotionally exhausted.

Consider the following two scenarios: 

Jane was originally planning on drinking coffee and studying all night to cram for tomorrow's exam. (Quadrant I)

Jane hadn't taken much time to build a relationship with Helen, so she was completely caught off-guard by her resident coming to her about this situation. The follow-up conversation was lengthly, awkward and difficult. (Quadrant I)

Joe started studying for this test last week, and was planning on brushing up on it, but feels fairly confident. (Quadrant II)

Joe had a good rapport with Helen, and was aware that she had been having a difficult semester. He had documented some conversations he had had with her, and had already told the HD about it, which made the follow-up conversation easier. (Quadrant II - Relationship Building)

We will always have activities and issues in all four of Steven Covey's quadrants, but if you can focus on things in Quadrant II, you will stop living completely in Quadrant I, and will have more time and flexibility.

When you make checklists for the day, it can be useful to label them according to the four quadrants. We always need to get the Quadrant I things done, but whenever there is time, fit a Quadrant II task in, so it will never become URGENT or PRESSING!

Do something!

Worksheet activity: 

• Decide which RA (Joe or Jane) you are typically most like in your role as an RA. (7d)

• List some Quadrant II Activities you can focus on in order to become more productive. (7e)