That's what time management is all about. We engage in fighting fires rather than in preventing them. Optimizing our use of time requires that we distinguish between the urgent and the important. Urgent tasks, although often insignificant, call for instant action and tend to make us forget the important ones. We respond to the endless pressures of the moment, the procedural requirements of the system, and administrative minutiae, but never get around to what really counts.
Productivity requires a focus on results, rather than activity.
We need to think of doing the right thing rather than doing things right. To do otherwise is to permit fire fighting to become the objective. The conclusion is that unless the urgent task is important, delegate it or put it on the back burner in favor of the important job. No manager is paid for being liked, but the unassailable fact is that people will work harder and more cheerfully for a manager they like than for one they dislike. That being so, it makes sense to take steps to be a likable human being.