Stop Letting Urgent Work Kill Important Work
Urgent vs. Important: The Law Firm Dilemma
If you’re running a law firm, you know the drill: client fires, staffing issues, billing hiccups, tech problems — the list never ends. These urgent issues demand attention. But here’s the cost: every time you let the “urgent” crowd out the “important,” your firm drifts further from its long-term vision.
Urgency will keep you busy. Importance will build your future.
Why This Problem Persists
Law firm leaders often believe they’ll “get to strategy when things calm down.” The problem? They never do. Fires are constant. Without intention and structure, the firm gets stuck in reactive mode, where vision and growth take a back seat.
The Eisenhower Matrix for Law Firms
President Eisenhower once said, “What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.” His decision-making framework still applies today.
Urgent + Important: Client crises, filing deadlines, major staff issues.
Important + Not Urgent: Vision, strategic planning, scaling systems, leadership development.
Urgent + Not Important: Endless emails, repetitive admin, “check-in” meetings without purpose.
Not Urgent + Not Important: Distractions disguised as work.
Guess which box law firm leaders rarely spend time in? That critical “Important + Not Urgent” quadrant — where future growth actually happens.
How to Reclaim Strategic Time
Block leadership strategy time. Non-negotiable, recurring calendar holds for quarterly reviews, vision-setting, and KPI analysis.
Delegate operational fires. Don’t be the default fixer. Empower your managers.
Establish systems that anticipate problems. Fires will still happen — but systems can catch sparks before they spread.
COO as Guardian of Strategic Bandwidth
A COO acts as the gatekeeper of leadership time. Instead of every urgent issue landing on the managing partner’s desk, the COO absorbs, triages, and solves. That way, leadership doesn’t just survive the week — they actually build the future.
At ING Collaborations, I help law firms step out of reactive mode and reclaim the space to think big. If you want to grow without being chained to today’s fires, let’s connect.