The Myth of Urgency
Why slowing down isn't falling behind
The Gospel of Now
We’ve been trained to treat faster as better.
Replies within minutes. Deliverables by end of day.
We call it responsiveness, but what we often mean is reflex.
Urgency has become a stand-in for fear.
Fear of missing out. Fear of being forgotten.
Fear of losing our worth if we pause too long.
The culture of more keeps time on a short leash.
It tells you every delay is danger.
But the truth is simpler and harder:
Most things don’t need to be done now.
They only need to be done with clarity.
The False Alarm Loop
When I worked as a director, we treated every Slack message like a fire drill.
If I didn’t respond within ten minutes, I felt guilty.
If someone else didn’t respond, I assumed they were slacking.
We confused urgency with importance.
Speed became the proof of value.
And the faster we went, the less meaningful the work became.
It took leaving that environment to see it clearly.
Urgency isn’t about time. It’s about anxiety.
The system stays alive by keeping you too busy to question it.
The Coordinate: Notice + One Focus
This week’s compass point combines two coordinates:
Notice (awareness before action) and One Focus (choose what actually matters).
Together, they ask one question that dismantles false urgency:
Who benefits from me believing this is urgent?
If the answer is “the algorithm,” “my boss’s insecurity,” or “my fear of being behind,” then what you’re feeling isn’t urgency.
It’s manipulation.
True urgency is rare.
It’s the child running into the street.
The medical call you can’t delay.
Everything else is noise camouflaged in sirens.
What Happens When You Slow Down
A strange thing occurs when you stop reacting to everything “right now”.
Time expands.
Decisions gain texture.
The world starts showing you what actually wants your attention.
You begin to see that your best ideas never arrive in a rush.
They appear in the in-between.
In showers and on walks.
In moments you’d once called unproductive.
Slowness isn’t the opposite of progress.
It’s a condition for wisdom.
A Real Example
Last month, I delayed answering a collaboration offer for two days.
Old-me would’ve said yes immediately to appear decisive.
Instead, I paused.
I asked my Compass question:
“What’s real urgency here and what’s pressure?
The answer was obvious: no one was waiting. Only my ego was.
When I finally responded, I had clarity and boundaries.
The delay didn’t cost me respect. It built it.
Where are you confusing speed with significance?
What truth could surface if you gave it 24 hours to breathe?
Practice for the Week
When you feel urgency rise:
Don’t open the app
Don’t respond to the ping
Instead, take three slow breaths
Ask: If I wait, what changes?
You’ll be surprised how often the answer is nothing essential.
That’s your compass.
You’re already holding it.
Exhale.
P.S. Tell me: what’s your hardest “pause” right now? What would happen if you trusted it for a day longer?