One of the many fascinating ways in which we humans are irrational and self-defeating is something psychologists call “structured procrastination.” In putting together a daily to-do list, we tend to focus on little things that seem urgent—clearing out our inbox, adding another meeting to the calendar—neglecting bigger, more important goals. It’s structured procrastination because we’re avoiding what’s really important because it’s more challenging and complex, and filling our time with things we can easily cross off the list, giving ourselves a sense of achievement without really having achieved anything.Are you optimizing short-term activity over long-term activity?Are you giving priority to tasks that seem urgent but which distract you from more important goals?SolutionsRegular scheduling of your prioritiesSaying “no” to non-priorities