A statement that puts you in the fast lane to chaos. And I can guarantee with 100% accuracy that is not what you meant to say.
It needs a qualifier. That's not important:
Today. This week. This month. This quarter. This year. Ever.
Even cleaner operationally:
That's important tomorrow. That's important next week. That's important next month. That's important next quarter. That's important next year. We won't ever do that.
Same problem with: That's not a priority. That's low priority.
Without a qualifier these statements set the foundation for future friction and frustration. No one, not even your own mind, knows where to "plant" that thing that's not important.
Will it suddenly become urgent? Will it be forgotten?
Saying "that's not important" feels like focus in the moment. It's actually vagueness in disguise.
This came up recently in a conversation with a founder. He asked me, "can I remove everything from this list that's not important?" I said "no, we can prioritize and qualify everything." In this case everything on the list had already passed the baseline question of "will this ever be important?" What he meant was "can I remove everything that's not important this week?"
Cleaner — can we note what's important this week and mark the rest as important next week or month, etc.
Spend 5 seconds today to save 5 hours of confusion tomorrow.