Stuck on the Work Treadmill? How to shift from reactive to proactive
- Katrina Hechanova
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Does your work ever feel like you’re running fast but getting nowhere—like being stuck on a treadmill? In contrast, think of your important work as a trail run: a purposeful journey that might move at a slower pace, but takes you somewhere that truly matters.
This is a challenge faced by professionals everywhere—leaders, executives, project managers, and HR teams alike. No matter your function, the constant pull of “urgent” tasks can crowd out the meaningful, strategic work that truly drives impact.
In HR, we know this tension well. Every day we’re called to support leaders through restructures, performance issues, and difficult conversations—work that is often reactive and emotionally charged. These urgent matters make a lot of noise, and because they’re highly visible, it’s tempting to treat them as the top priority.
But urgent doesn’t always mean important.
I remember a time when I was running from pillar to post with five urgent projects that only I could manage on top of the standard ‘business as usual’ activities. The projects were time-consuming, reactive, and critical in the moment. But while I was buried in the weeds, I had no time to build capability in my team. I said “yes” to everything, fuelled by my desire to add value and not disappoint, and I paid the price.
The result? I was stretched too thin, working long hours, exhausted and perceived as chaotic. My reputation suffered—not because I wasn’t working hard, but because I wasn’t working strategically.
That was my wake-up call. I needed to shift from treadmill mode to trail mode. I reviewed the capacity and capability of my team, leading to a later restructure of my department, aligned our projects to business objectives, and committed to delegating 30% of my tasks. Every day, I looked at my to-do list and passed three out of ten tasks to my team. It wasn’t easy. I had to learn to say no, create boundaries, and elevate my language so I was seen as driving strategy—not just firefighting.
Why Urgency Feels So Demanding
In a world moving faster than ever, impatience fuels an expectation to respond instantly. Many of us struggle to say no, underestimate how long tasks will take, or confuse visibility with importance. The trap? We leave little time for truly important work—strategic projects, professional development, or relationship building.
Dwight D. Eisenhower said it best: “What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.”
Urgent tasks often come with noise—tight deadlines, last-minute demands, or senior-level attention.
Important tasks are quieter but far more powerful: they align with strategic goals, build long-term capability, and ultimately shape performance.
Research reinforces this. A series of studies published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people typically chose to complete tasks with short deadlines—even when tasks with longer deadlines were just as easy and offered a bigger reward. It’s natural to want to clear deadline-driven tasks off your mental to-do list. The paradox is that our most meaningful work often has no clear deadline at all.
One strategy I’ve adopted is inspired by the Kaizen approach—breaking large, important initiatives into small, 15-minute tasks and completing one every day. This creates momentum, builds a sense of achievement, and prevents important work from slipping through the cracks. The key is to set your own deadlines: if a task takes longer than 10–15 minutes, it must be scheduled in your calendar. By creating structure and urgency around important work, you give it the attention it deserves.
The Consequences of Living in Urgency
Emotional:
Overwhelm: constant urgency creates stress and fatigue.
Frustration: you feel stuck doing work that doesn’t matter long term.
Self-doubt: shallow progress makes you question your impact.
Practical:
Stalled growth: strategy is sidelined by short-term noise.
Burnout: energy is drained by reactivity, not replenished by purpose.
Team confusion: lack of priorities creates inefficiency.
Reduced presence: without calm and clarity, executive presence suffers.
A 2024 Reclaim.ai study revealed:
98.2% of people struggle to prioritize tasks.
94.2% would reschedule a one-on-one to attend an “urgent” meeting.
96.6% would give up focus time to handle something urgent.
It’s no wonder so many of us feel stuck on the treadmill.
The Benefits of Shifting to Importance
When you deliberately focus on important work:
You gain peace of mind and feel in control.
Your confidence grows as you act with purpose.
Stress reduces—less chasing, more choosing.
Strategic progress becomes visible.
Others see you as credible, composed, and focused.
Or as Stephen Covey put it: “Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”
If you’re finding it hard to prioritize the important over the urgent, you’re not alone. The constant flood of deadlines and decisions—combined with the mental and emotional weight of truly important work—makes this a near-universal struggle. The good news is, with the right strategies, you can break the cycle and make steady progress on what really matters.
How to Balance Urgent vs. Important
Define your strategic goals. Know what truly matters—without a north star, everything feels urgent.
Use the Eisenhower Matrix. Sort tasks into urgent/important quadrants.
Audit your time. Track where urgency hijacks your focus.
Ask: “What happens if I don’t do this?” If the answer is minimal, it’s not important.
Block time for strategic work. Treat it as sacred, non-negotiable.
Delegate or automate. Clear space for high-value thinking.
Reflect weekly. Ask: What moved the needle? What distracted me?
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