Yesterday, I received two separate e-mails in my inbox that had the word “Urgent” in the subject line. Neither were spam and both were work-related. Needless to say, I dug right in and responded immediately—both by telephone and e-mail. Well, it is over 24 hours later and I have not heard back from either of the urgent senders…so it leaves me wondering, what really constitutes a work or business emergency and how excited should I get?
Time sensitive things and deadlines might be considered urgent, but it probably depends on the type of work a person does. I am not saving lives or performing brain surgery and unless someone is going to lose a life, miss a flight, or lose a million dollars—it probably is not all that urgent. I am of the opinion that “urgent” should be reserved for just these sorts of unequivocal emergencies. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we don’t need to be respectful of other people’s time and follow through on promises and commitments we have made in our work and business world—but, really, is it truly urgent?
The truth is, we live in a fast-paced world where we expect immediate responses and lightening-quick turnaround on all sorts of things—especially work and business-related things. How often does someone call in with a last-minute order or decide after a deadline has past to make changes or a special request? Are we addicted to the stress of running behind and having to rush, rush, rush?!
So, I would like to propose a suggestion—that in our business world, we reserve the word “urgent” (and the word “emergency” too) for those things that really are precarious, dangerous, or life-threatening—unless someone’s life and or limb is at stake or failing to act will cause the downfall of world civilization—let’s just keep things in perspective.
See Also: Could You Check Your E-mail Once a Day?
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