Business Quote by David Meerman Scott
“The urgent can drown out the important.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The New Rules of Marketing and PR, 2010
Urgent tasks can dominate attention, causing neglect of truly important matters.
In simple terms: Urgent overshadows important.
Key Takeaway
Prioritize importance over urgency.
Themes
focus
prioritization
time management
Mood
reflective
concerned
Type
advice
insightful
When to use this quote
- project planning
- personal goals
- team meetings
- crisis response
Key Concepts
Opportunity cost
attention economy
Questions to Reflect On
- What important tasks are you neglecting?
- How can you protect time for them?
A Different Perspective
Urgency may be necessary in emergencies, limiting ability to focus on long‑term goals.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)