Dwight D. Eisenhower served as the 34th President of the United States and was a five-star general and supreme commander of Allied Forces during World War II. His catalog of work includes:
- Creating the interstate highway system
- Ending the Korean War
- Easing tensions during the Cold War
- Incorporated Alaska & Hawaii into the United States
He obviously was a master at productivity. If you’d like to master productivity, stop letting time slip away from you and get more done. Help yourself feel accomplished at the end of the day with the Eisenhower Matrix. You may have also heard this called the Urgent-Important Matrix, the Eisenhower Box, or the Time-Management Matrix.
People who are impressively accomplished in life are that way because they know how to spend their time wisely. They know what needs to be done right away, what can be scheduled for later, what should be delegated to someone else, and what needs to be eliminated.
Why You Need The Eisenhower Matrix-
Do you feel like you have a lot on your plate, but get overwhelmed with where to put your energy? You may find yourself lost in busywork yet have nothing accomplished at the end of the day or workweek. The Eisenhower Matrix can help you sort your priorities and where to place your energy to reap the most output. To use the Eisenhower Matrix, you will organize your tasks into four quadrants. You can do this at the beginning of every day or week to organize your thoughts on paper so you know exactly what you need to be focusing on. Do this on a piece of paper, an app, or on your computer.
Make an honest list for yourself about how you spend an average working day. On a sheet of paper, write your daily schedule and, on average, how much time you spend on each activity. Place each activity in the appropriate quadrant to get an accurate portrayal of how you typically spend your time. Assess your matrix and write down how you’d like to spend your time to be most efficient.
The four quadrants will be labeled as such:
Urgent + Important-
This category will feature duties that are pressing and have a strict deadline. There are consequences for not completing these tasks immediately. The project that’s due tomorrow, your phone bill that’s due today, the free-trial subscription you need to cancel before you get charged, or the water pipe that needs replacing before your home floods.
These duties need to be done right away before they become a larger issue. Complete these tasks first so they don’t stress you out and spike your cortisol levels. Once these jobs are done, you can move on to the next quadrant. You don’t want to spend too much time in this quadrant because, although these tasks are urgent, they distract from your larger goals.
Non-Urgent + Important-
This quadrant features tasks that are considered important yet non-urgent. They help you to get closer to your long-term goals, although they have no strict deadline or consequence for not completing them right away. Since they’re not urgent, these assignments can get pushed aside in favour of ‘busywork’ that doesn’t get you closer to your ultimate objectives.
The things listed in this quadrant are best scheduled for a certain time. Maybe you have a daily time block dedicated to this quadrant, or a couple of days a week you can commit to staying in this quadrant. Create as much time as you have available to work on these long-term targets.
Urgent + Non-Important-
The urgent yet not important quadrant contains tasks that need to be done right away but don’t require your specific skill set or expertise to complete. These jobs may include scheduling appointments, cleaning your house, meal prepping, grocery shopping, making slides or spreadsheets, etc.
It might be hard for you to delegate tasks if you’re a bit of a control freak, but let’s be realistic, you can’t do EVERYTHING in a day or week without assistance, whether it’s hiring help, getting your groceries delivered, hiring a virtual assistant, or asking your partner for support. Learning to delegate tasks may take practice before you get comfortable with the idea, but it is crucial if you have a lot on your plate and want to get the important things finished.
Non-Urgent + Non-Important-
This quadrant is full of time wasters. You should aim to spend minimal time here if you’d like to get any meaningful work done. This box includes things like doomscrolling, watching TV, organizing your email inbox, etc. It’s not that you can never spend time here; it’s just that you should do so in moderation, especially during your designated productivity hours.
Taking breaks is fine as long as you can jump back in without mindlessly letting the minutes or hours pass by in this specific quadrant. The less time you spend letting your precious time slip away, the more time you’ll have to accomplish what you set out to. With how many distractions available at our fingertips in today’s digital age, it takes practice and a lot of discipline to remain focused. Luckily, like a muscle, focus can be practiced until it forms into a habit.
Don’t Overschedule-
It’s tempting to go overboard and list way too many things in your quadrants. However, you’ll want to keep your lists short and simple. Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many tasks, as that’ll cause you anxiety since you can only realistically get so much done in a certain amount of time. Stick to no more than 8 tasks per quadrant. Only when tasks are completed should more be added. Depending on your workload, you can split your Eisenhower matrix into different categories in your life. One for your work life and one for your home and personal life.
Colour Code-
An easy way to differentiate the quadrants visually is by colour coding. Whichever your preferred method, use 4 distinct colours to separate the different categories.
Final Thoughts-
If you have trouble figuring out where to allocate your time, the Eisenhower Matrix can be the exact tool that you need. Begin by writing out your tasks for the day, then separate them into the appropriate quadrant. The Urgent + Important box is for things that need to be completed immediately in a time crunch. Not doing so results in consequences. The next box features your Important + Non-Urgent box, which holds work that leads to your long-term goals and overall vision.
The 3rd quadrant is for work that is Urgent + Not Important. These tasks can be delegated to someone else and don’t require your specific skill set to be completed. Lastly, the 4th quadrant is for tasks that are Non-Urgent + Non-Important, like doomscrolling and watching TV.
The better you get at compartmentalizing your daily tasks and spending the right amount of time on them, the more you’ll get done in a day and the more likely you’ll be to reach your long-term goals. Hopefully, this helps you prioritize your tasks, boost your productivity, and reduce your stress and anxiety levels.
As always, wishing you peace & tranquility, xo.
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