Learn to use AI at work, with Claude. Yes, at your 9-to-5 desk job. Free in the 9-5 Survivors Lab

Ask Flex / Everything is urgent

Ask Flex

How do you improve your sense of urgency at work?

It's usually not speed. It's what they can see.

What you say

"Okay. I'll get to it."

"Got it. You'll have it Thursday by 3."

What your boss hears

"Is it happening? I'd better check."

"It's handled. I can stop thinking about it."

An example. Your boss, your call.

Flex's short answer

"Sense of urgency" usually means your boss can't see the work moving, not that you're slow. Answer fast with a date, even before the work is done, and send a short update before anyone has to ask.

✱ Flex's tips

Show it moving.

1

Answer within the hour

Not the work. Just "got it, here's when."

2

Give a day and a time

"Thursday by 3" beats "soon."

3

Send the halfway note

One line when you're halfway. Before they ask.

4

Finish a small one first

A quick, visible win buys calm for the big one.

Try this in your own Claude or ChatGPT

My boss asked me for these things, with names and private details left out: [list each one and when I can really have it done]. For each one, write a two-sentence reply that says I've got it and gives the day and time. Then write a one-line halfway update I can send for the biggest one. Use only the dates I gave you.

Before you paste work stuff into any AI, check what your company allows.
Free tool

Fire or Smoke?

Eight office messages, all marked urgent. Tap which ones are real fires and which are just loud.

Play a round
Flex the robot at his desk with alarm bells ringing on every folder, calmly aiming a small fire extinguisher at the one paper with a tiny real flame, with little Clawd peeking out in a firefighter hat
Inside the Lab

Learn this in the Lab, free

A free group where you learn to use Claude for the repeat parts of your job: email, reports, forms. Start with a 15-minute chat that maps what Claude can do in your job.

  • Free
  • No coding
  • Works in Claude
Start free on Skool
✱ What people ask
Why is everything urgent at work?

Because calling it urgent costs the person asking nothing. Flex has a page on it.

What do I do when everything is urgent at work?

Ask what breaks if it waits until tomorrow. Flex has a page on it.

What if I'm being pulled in different directions at work?

Put every ask in one list and give each one a day. Flex has a page on it.

✱ More from this pile: Everything is urgent
What do you do when everything is urgent at work?Why is everything urgent at work?What are examples of urgent but not important tasks at work?Pulled in too many directions at work?How do you avoid distractions at work?How can you be effective at work? Fire or Smoke?
From Nikki's blogFlex tells you how. Nikki tells you what it felt like. Read it on Clawd and Me. Read it →

Want to hand this to Claude?

Start in the Lab with the free 9-to-5 Job Triage: a 15-minute chat that maps what Claude can do in your job. Everything inside is free.

Start free on Skool