Pick Which Side To Err On

Yesterday I talked about finding the right balance between urgent work and important work. Or, to put it another way, how I misinterpret and differently apply what is sometimes called the Eisenhower Principle of managing or failing to manage my time.

One reason I think this is hard comes back to something that a friend of mine uses as a maxim, which I think is brilliant and that I come back to all the time in my thinking about a lot of things.

I went to grad school with Rick Borovoy, who has a gift for clear, surprising, and pithy thinking. One of the things Rick used to say is that it’s impossible to ever find exactly the right balance or compromise or middle ground. So instead of trying to hit that perfect middle, it’s much better to just be really clear which side you want to err on.

Whenever I find myself struggling to find the right balance, I think about this maxim of Rick’s and it helps … most of the time.

Today’s music is “And What If I Don’t,” from Herbie Hancock’s 1963 album “My Point of View.” Donald Byrd on Trumpet and Grant Green on guitar.