Complication about using present perfect tense with other tenses

Question

Since English is my foreign language, I always run into some unforeseen complication when describing daily activities I have just done in my daily journal. That is, I often use present perfect sentences with present, present perfect continuous, and past simple sentences in order to be specific about the time frame as much as possible. This mixture always confuses me and made me feel less confident when I want to be specific about the time frame.  So I would like to know if these sample texts are grammatically correct and sound natural:

I have cleared the table, since the food was so dry that I could
not finish it. [Present Perfect + Past Simple]
I have changed my pants, because the weather has been getting hotter this morning.
[Present Perfect + Present Perfect Continuous]
I decided to take this course, because it is important for my future career. [Past
Simple + Present Simple]
I decided to take this course, because it was important for my future career. [Past Simple + Past Simple]

Any advice is appreciated.

Kate Bunting · Answer

(1) and (2) are correct (assuming you have just completed the action described).
Assuming that the course remains important for your future, use (3) rather than (4). (It was important implies that it has since ceased to be important.)

Complication about using present perfect tense with other tenses

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