Don't Let Urgency Bias Derail Your Long-term Business Goals Here are three techniques for choosing important tasks over urgent ones.

Imagine you're facing a typical, busy weekday. You've got a long to-do list, including some work on a pivotal project, and an inbox full of email messages. In this situation, many people would choose to hit "Inbox Zero" before turning to more crucial tasks.

This approach probably isn't in our best interest — but it's not entirely our fault, either. According to research, humans are predisposed to choose urgent tasks, even when it hinders our progress on more meaningful work. It's called "urgency bias."

This past year, I contracted Covid-19. Though I've made an almost full recovery, the experience served as a wake-up call. I started to wonder how I could overcome my predisposition toward urgent matters and leave more time for important work, like making headway on long-term goals at JotForm, and spending time with my family. Luckily, there are strategies for overcoming, or at least working with, our urgency biases.