Consider this -- you can take any task and put it into one of the following 4 spaces:
Credit: Stephen Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Usually we do the important, urgent things first, and then we work on the urgent, non-important things. In theory, the important things should always get done, whether they are urgent or not.
Example: There’s a big sale happening on vacuum cleaners at Sears. You have to act by tomorrow or you’ll miss out on the deal! But you have a working vacuum cleaner. The new ones do have some nice features, and this might be your last chance to get one of those new vacuum cleaners! (it’s urgent, but not important) On a side-note, you really should vacuum the coils of your refrigerator and clean out the insides. For now it’s fine, there’s no urgency in it, but cleaning the coils of the refrigerator will save you money, and scrubbing the shelves will limit how much mold settles on old food and keep everyone in your household healthy, so it’s an important, but not urgent thing that should be done. So what should you do today, buy a vacuum cleaner at the sale, or clean your refrigerator?
We all find ourselves putting off the important, non-urgent things and spending time on the urgent, non-important things. Good advice for anyone is to stop doing non-important, urgent things to spend more time on the important, non-urgent things.
Consider whether Toastmasters is important in your life. If it is, make time for it. Turn it into something that gets done because you’ve set a deadline for yourself. When you make the time for what'''s important, you’ll find you’re getting the more important things done.