"Precisely!" I hear Erik say. "You even used the term I like most for it: unplanned work. Firefighting is vividly descriptive, but 'unplanned work' is even better. It might even be better to call it 'anti-work,' since it further highlights its destructive and avoidable nature.

"Unlike the other categories of work, unplanned work is recovery work, which almost always takes you away from your goals. That's why it's so important to know where your unplanned work is coming from."