CRISES WILL CAUSE YOU TO RE-PRIORITISE
Last July my Dad, his partner and two other family members were seriously injured in a dramatic accident. I remember it was a Friday lunchtime when I got the call from my brother. Dad was to be flown to the burns unit in Middlemore Hosptial where he ended up staying for the next seven weeks.
Being the only Auckland-based son meant my role was going to involve lots of driving to and from the hospital, being on call for visitors and making time to be at Dad’s bedside.
It meant I very quickly had to sort out what my key priorities were in the short-term. What did I absolutely need to do, what could I delegate and what could I ignore or deflect for now?
The funny thing is, I thought I was really busy with a full schedule of work and family life. When the accident occurred it suddenly brought into focus a very famous matrix when Urgency and Importance get sorted out quite easily.
Oh – by the way - everyone that was involved has recovered well and are on the way back to full health. This crisis made me realise that looking after Dad in that moment was clearly where my focus needed to be. It ended up being one of the best periods of time we have spent together and I’m grateful for that.