Discover the Eisenhower Matrix, a time management tool that empowers you to prioritize tasks by urgency and importance. Unearth the secrets of productivity, as used by the 34th President of the United States, and learn to make decisions with efficiency and ease.
What is an Eisenhower Matrix?
Eisenhower was a 5-star General in the United States Army who served as and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II
- The Eisenhower Matrix is a decision making and time management method which sorted tasks based on urgency and importance
- By mapping the tasks against this matrix, it allows them to be triaged to different treatments
- Important / Urgent: Tasks that are time critical and should be done personally e.g. an imminent deadline
- important / not urgent: Needs to be done however can be scheduled for a future date e. g. long term strategies or plans or future phases / releases
- Not important/not urgent: What can be done by others or not at all
The difference between urgency and importance
Urgent tasks may get an implied importance based on a deadline that is more imminent
- This is called the’mere-urgency effect’
- Look at the outcome of the task rather than the task itself
- Mapping a task as ‘urgent’ or ‘not urgent’ can be done based on available time
Place a value on your time
Include not just project or professional tasks but personal ones as well
- For many of us, the hardest part will be to assign our tasks to the ‘Don’t Do’ quadrant
- The more tasks in this box, the quicker your to-do list will whittle right down and you’ll be able to focus on only critical items
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