The tyranny of the urgent is something that seems to keep a lot of people from really achieving success in life. We get swamped with emails to reply to, phone calls to answer and many other tasks that demand to get down now though they may not be that important.

This phrase, it would seem, was first coined by Charles Hummel in his essay on this subject. In those days the worst tyrant was the telephone, today email, instant messaging and cell phones need to be included in this list. How do you handle these items?

I don't think there is anyone who would disagree that although these items may be tyrants, they are also extremely useful and without them life as we know it would probably not exist. It is important, however, to learn to manage these correctly.

Handling the tyranny of the urgent may include practical steps such as asking your secretary or an answering service to take telephone messages, turning off your cell phone while you focus on other activities, and only checking your email at certain allocated times. Whatever you do to become more productive and stop these tyrants stealing from your time, it is important to take control and keep them in their place.

The tyranny of the urgent is one of the chief time thieves that prevent us from being truly productive and effective. It is important to realize which of these tyrants cause the biggest disturbance to your life and to take steps to keep them in their place. You do not need to answer the phone each time it rings, or reply to emails as they are received. Learn to manage these interruptions for a more productive lifestyle and end the tyranny of the urgent.