HBR Guides to Managing Your Career Collection (6 Books)

CHAPTER 2

Assessment: Are You Focusing on What’s Important to You?

by Stewart D. Friedman

In this assessment, you’ll compare your priorities with how you actually allocate your time and energy.

There’s an old saw that the urgent often wins over the important. But too much focus on things that aren’t important to you can have significant long-term impact on your career, your family, and your health. The “Four-Way View Test,” adapted from my 2008 book, Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life, gives you an understanding of how you’re focusing your attention on the four domains of your life: work, home, community, and self. It reveals the amount of attention you pay to various aspects of your life and also asks about your satisfaction ...