Once life gets busy, it’s sort of inevitable that we begin to sort the work to be done.
And the most natural sort is to focus on the urgent. After all, if that plate is about to break, it’s hard to watch it fall when you’ve decided to work on something less urgent instead.
Which leads to days spent dealing with only the last-minute emergencies.
The problem is that by the time the two-minute warning arrives, it’s too late to win the game.
You’re so far behind (because the other team focused early and persistently) that it’s a lost cause.
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.
The second-best time is today.
