Is a publishing professional with more than twenty years of

aSKing The “WanT TO/haVe TO” qUeSTiOn
If all this business of dividing activities into four quadrants on an 
important/urgent grid seems like a lot of work—and it is—here’s 
an easier way to begin to gain control of your daily life.
Again, you’re going to need to develop a way to interrupt your-
self  several  times  a  day.  These  interruptions  can  coincide  with 
your mini-vacations, but they don’t have to.
Simply stop what you’re doing, take a breath, and ask yourself 
the following:
“Is this what I want or need to be doing right now?”
You can, of course, modify the question to fit your own circum-
stances and your approach to life. (This version was created by 
modifying the “Lakein Question” proposed by Alan Lakein in his 
1973 book.) But be sure to touch on the three key elements:
Is this what I want
or need
to be doing right now?
Note that it’s “or,” not “and.” Obviously, a task can be a long 
way from what you’d really like to be doing and still be the thing 
you need to do.

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If the answer to this question is “yes,” go back to what you were 
doing. You will have affirmed your choice of activities and made 
your decision consciously, the key element in time management.
If you want or need to do it but not right now, put it off and 
do something with a higher degree of time sensitivity. That way, 
you’ll avoid getting caught in deadline pressure later.
And  if  you  neither  want  nor  need  to  be  doing  it,  now  or 
ever—STOP!
It may seem amazing to you, but if you consistently practice the 
“want/need” question, you really will catch yourself doing things 
you can’t justify doing on any grounds, and you’ll find yourself 
shifting activities to better serve your needs.
This simple question can make a tremendous positive differ-
ence in the way you live.