The Hutch

I have a hutch in my kitchen. In it is all the glassware I use for special occasions, my wok and vases for the occasional flower arrangement that needs a home. The “shelf” of the hutch is supposed to be a transient space. Keys land there before being put away or grabbed on the way out the door. I have a fruit bowl that generally collects other random items on their way to their permanent home. And then I have the corner of the hutch where I put things that need to be addressed, just not right now. Bills that aren’t due for two weeks, credit cards that need to be activated, invitations that need to be R.S.V.P.’d to, and “things that need to be filed but I don’t want to file them right now”. These include paid bills, letters from our sponsored children, insurance statements, instruction manuals, or birthday cards I want to save. Things that need to be filed but I don’t have time or desire to file them now. I hate filling. HATE. FILING. It’s not a difficult job. It doesn’t even take very long. But I hate it.

So, when I go to get the mail every day, I sort it and put in the Pile what needs to be dealt with but I’m too busy to at that moment – even if the busy-ness is only a mental state of unwillingness or being unorganized. Every few months, the Pile becomes obnoxious. I can’t use the hutch for what it’s meant for, the kitchen processes are threatened, the fruit bowl begins to be swallowed, and I generally have a slight anxiety attack when I even look in the general direction of the hutch. It’s at that point I snap, usually stop something doing actually important, and take few minutes it takes to sort the “done” from the “undone”, pick up the “done” and walk it downstairs to the filing cabinet in my office, and get to work on taking care of the “undone” before the lights get shut off because the bill is in there…somewhere.

There is no reason – not one – that my kitchen needs to be taken over with this pile. And yet it happens every month or so without fail. The hutch is my catch-all for things that are important but not urgent. This is an important distinction to make.

There are things that are urgent but not important – these are the ones that clutter our day, make us late and cause general stress that’s unnecessary but we feel compelled to give our attention to the urgent even though it may not truly be consequential. Things we feel others expect us to do, projecting a certain image, many meetings, and watching the Oscar's live instead of DVR-ing it for a later, more convenient time all land here.

There are the urgent, important things. A fire would land in this category, an injured child, a woman in labor, a shipment being delayed because of insufficient access permissions, a deadline, or the water bill. They deserve and demand our attention immediately and are very consequential. It’s easy to find motivation to do these things because they are often associated with a sense of panic or adrenaline.

Some things are neither urgent nor important. These are usually things we enjoy doing but aren’t necessary for the daily workings of our lives. These are the things we should enjoy during free time – if we are lucky enough to have such a thing. They are important on a personal fulfillment level, but not on a practical or professional output level.

Lastly, there are the things that land on the hutch – the important but not urgent. They are important but do not require our immediate attention. There are the things we need to be intentional about because they are important even though they don’t have the “panic factor” driving us to check them off of our To Do List. Here’s the deal – these things don’t stay “not urgent”. Eventually, they will move from “Important but not Urgent”, to “Urgent and Important”. Along with the things that land in my Pile, here are a few things that call this category home:

Your child’s daily music practice.

Changing your furnace filter.

Cleaning your rain gutters.

Your relationship with your spouse.

Renewing your car insurance.

Changing the batteries in your smoke detector.

Expense reports.

R.S.V.P. to your cousin’s wedding.

Ordering printer ink.

Your health.

Eventually, you will have to stop doing something important because your Pile is taking over your life. The things you’ve neglected – things that don’t take a lot of time if you just do them – will become something you cannot ignore. Something you cannot shelf anymore. Eventually, their level of urgency will dramatically increase and will often cause a major inconvenience at best, a complete stall at worst. Eventually, you will have to rely on the “panic factor” to get them done. Everything around you will have to stop – and that rarely ends well.

What’s on your hutch?

Lean forward,

Bekka