Productivity expert David Allen describes the above dilemma as "the busy trap". This is simply “the pattern of reactively handling the latest and loudest issues, instead of proactively deciding what's the most important thing to work on, at the moment.” He describes all work into two modes: doing stuff and deciding what stuff you have to do. To work smart, one must be able to balance these two modes. If you react before you decide, you will in evidently be stuck in “the busy trap.” Take a few minutes to watch this short video created by Gina Trapani from Fast Company, who details how to avoid falling into “the busy trap.”
There will always be interruptions thrown at you in the form of emergencies or requests, that won’t change. What you can change though is how you respond to them. As this short video highlighted, the key to avoiding the busy trap is to make decisions, early and often, about what your priorities are today.