Tyranny of the Urgent

      

PIC No. 101: Pails in Comparison (June 5, 2025)

• Title: Tyranny of the Urgent (Revised & Expanded)
• Author: Charles E. Hummel
• Publisher: IVP Books (April 19, 1994, 31 pages)
• Management Bucket #9 of 20: The Team Bucket

Welcome to Pails in Comparison, the sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—short reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

The Winds of Other People’s Demands!”

Oops! Back in April, I announced, “Call me crazy—but for the next 12 months, I’m going to read (or reread) a “time management” book every month. Join me! My theme was: “Inspire Your Team to Read a ‘Book-a-Month’ on Time Management!” (Read my blog.)

Oops! It’s already June and this is just #1 of 12 reviews. Where’d the time go? Ironic?

So please don’t blame me for starting with the shortest book on the list: a 31-page pamphlet! (Not a typo: just 31 pages. You do have time to read this!)

Charles E. Hummel wrote, “Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day?” Hummel answers his own question: “But wouldn’t we soon be just as frustrated as we are now with our twenty-four-hour allotment?” (How about a 13-month year?)

By page 4, the author is almost poetic: “The winds of other people’s demands and our own inner compulsions, have driven us onto a reef of frustration.” Time is not the problem, Hummel preaches, it’s priorities. “We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important.”

To go deeper, read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey, and study the “Time Management Matrix.” This is also known as the “Eisenhower Matrix.” (For a fascinating book by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower, read How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Ike’s Biggest Decisions. (Read my review.)

Hummel, who served as executive director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and president of Barrington College, died in 2004 at age 81. His popular pamphlet (just 31 pages!) packs a punch. He quotes Jesus’ prayer in John 17, at the conclusion of his 33-year ministry: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” 

The author pokes us: Are we crowding our schedules with “priorities” not assigned to us by our Father? Yikes! He documents how Jesus often left, or postponed, pressing priorities to focus on his Father’s work. What a life-giving reminder! Hummel points us to Mark 1:35 and asks, “What was the secret of Jesus’ ministry?”

The author blends theology with practicality and mentions a student who was proud of his “stewardship of time” and rejected Hummel’s counsel to track his time. But a month later, this engineering major conducted his own time inventory and found an extra six hours of time per week that could be better utilized. 

More Insights:
   • On budgeting your time—there’s no need to change everything overnight. “Our Lord is a gracious teacher who helps us to learn one lesson at a time.”
   • “I have come to realize that I am the indispensable person only until the moment I say no.”
   • Schedule one hour per week for a spiritual inventory assessment. “Ironically, the busier we get, the more we need these periods—and the less we seem able to schedule them. We become like the fanatic, who unsure of his direction, doubles his speed.”

“Over the years, I have found that one of the greatest struggles in the Christian life is the effort to make adequate time for:
   • daily waiting on God,
   • weekly inventory,
   • and monthly planning.
Yet this is the path to escaping the tyranny of the urgent.”

Hummel was the author of numerous books, including two full-length books on the “tyranny of the urgent” theme. (See below.)

See you next month for the next time-management refresher!

Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. Visit John Pearson's Buckets Blog for more book reviews. Subscribe here to receive every issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Recalling these books reminded me of several other must-read books in the Team Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[   ]  “12 Time Management Books (if you have time!)” – Our 12-month series with a book-a-month to read or reread. Click here.
[   ] Priorities: Tyranny of the Urgent (Christian Basics Bible Studies: Six Studies for Individuals or Groups), by Charles E. Hummel. (Order from Amazon.)
[   ] Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent, by Charles E. Hummel. (Note: Winner of the 2004 ECPA Platinum Book Award) – (Order from Amazon.)
[   ] The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®, by Stephen R. Covey. (Order from Amazon.)
[   ] How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Ike’s Biggest Decisions, by Susan Eisenhower. (Read my review, "Let's Not Make Our Mistakes in a Hurry."

BONUS!
[   ] Read this very helpful blog from Time Boss, “When Helping Stunts Your Team's Growth (And Burns You Out).”
[   ] Visit the Time Boss website. “Time Boss helps high-performing leaders master their time, scale with focus, and lead without overwhelm.”

TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for Tyranny of the Urgent (Revised & Expanded), by Charles E. Hummel (31-page pamphlet). Listen on Libro (33 minutes).For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting.

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