The Eisenhower Matrix, also referred to as Urgent-Important Matrix, helps you decide on and prioritize tasks by urgency and importance, sorting out less urgent and important tasks which you should either delegate or not do at all.
It was invented by the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had to make tough decisions every day about what tasks to prioritise.
So how does it work?
There are 4 quadrants with different strategies:
The first quadrant: refers to tasks that are important for your life and career and need to be done today or tomorrow at the latest.
The second quadrant is Schedule. These are important but less urgent tasks. You should list tasks you need to put in your calendar here.
The third quadrant is for those tasks you could delegate as they are less important but still pretty urgent. You should keep track of them by email, telephone or within a meeting to check back on their progress later.
The fourth and last quadrant is called Don’t Do; it helps you sort out things you should not be doing at all, to help you stop bad habits that give you an excuse for not being able to deal with important tasks in the 1st and 2nd quadrants.
Try using it in your work life and see if it helps keep you organised.
Written by Coco Clelland
Artwork by Zara Masood
