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    What Is The Eisenhower Matrix?

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    Azucena Herrera
    The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management tool that helps prioritize tasks by importance and urgency. It was developed by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to make difficult decisions about his tasks each day during World War 2. The matrix sorts tasks into four quadrants based on their importance and urgency: important and urgent tasks are done first, important but not urgent tasks are scheduled, urgent but not important tasks are delegated, and unimportant tasks are avoided. The document provides examples of tasks that would fit into each quadrant and tips for using the matrix such as limiting tasks per quadrant and maintaining only one to-do list.

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    What Is The Eisenhower Matrix?

    Uploaded by

    Azucena Herrera
    47 views2 pages
    The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management tool that helps prioritize tasks by importance and urgency. It was developed by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to make difficult decisions about his tasks each day during World War 2. The matrix sorts tasks into four quadrants based on their importance and urgency: important and urgent tasks are done first, important but not urgent tasks are scheduled, urgent but not important tasks are delegated, and unimportant tasks are avoided. The document provides examples of tasks that would fit into each quadrant and tips for using the matrix such as limiting tasks per quadrant and maintaining only one to-do list.

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    Eisenhower_Matrix_introduction

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    The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management tool that helps prioritize tasks by importance and urgency. It was developed by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to make difficult decisions about his tasks each day during World War 2. The matrix sorts tasks into four quadrants based on their importance and urgency: important and urgent tasks are done first, important but not urgent tasks are scheduled, urgent but not important tasks are delegated, and unimportant tasks are avoided. The document provides examples of tasks that would fit into each quadrant and tips for using the matrix such as limiting tasks per quadrant and maintaining only one to-do list.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    47 views2 pages

    What Is The Eisenhower Matrix?

    Uploaded by

    Azucena Herrera
    The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management tool that helps prioritize tasks by importance and urgency. It was developed by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to make difficult decisions about his tasks each day during World War 2. The matrix sorts tasks into four quadrants based on their importance and urgency: important and urgent tasks are done first, important but not urgent tasks are scheduled, urgent but not important tasks are delegated, and unimportant tasks are avoided. The document provides examples of tasks that would fit into each quadrant and tips for using the matrix such as limiting tasks per quadrant and maintaining only one to-do list.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Introducing the Eisenhower Matrix

    What is the Eisenhower Matrix?


    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.

    Where does the name come from?


    Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. Before
    becoming President, he served as a general in the United States Army and as the Allied Forces
    Supreme Commander during World War II. He also later became NATO’s first supreme commander.
    Dwight had to make tough decisions continuously about which of the many tasks he should focus
    on each day. This finally led him to invent the world-famous Eisenhower principle, which today
    helps us prioritize by urgency and importance.

    How to use the Eisenhower Matrix?


    Prioritizing tasks by urgency and importance results in 4 quadrants with different work strategies:

    We call the first quadrant Do first as its tasks are important for your life and career and need to be
    done today or tomorrow at the latest. You could use a timer to help you concentrate while trying to
    get as much of them done as possible.

    An example of this type of task could be to review an important document for your manager.
    The second quadrant we call Schedule. Its tasks are important but less urgent. You should list tasks
    you need to put in your calendar here.

    An example of that could be a long-planned restart of your gym activity.

    Professional time managers leave fewer things unplanned and therefore try to manage most of their
    work in the second quadrant, reducing stress by terminating urgent and important to-dos to a
    reasonable date in the near future whenever a new task comes in.

    The third quadrant is for those tasks you could delegate as they are less important to you than others
    but still pretty urgent. You should keep track of delegated tasks by e-mail, telephone or within a
    meeting to check back on their progress later.

    An example of a delegated task could be somebody calling you to ask for an urgent favor or request
    that you step into a meeting. You could delegate this responsibility by suggesting a better person for
    the job or by giving the caller the necessary information to have him deal with the matter himself.

    The fourth and last quadrant is called Don’t Do because it is there to help you sort out things you
    should not being doing at all.

    Discover and stop bad habits, like surfing the internet without a reason or gaming too long, these
    give you an excuse for not being able to deal with important tasks in the 1st and 2nd quadrant.

    5 time management tips when working with the Eisenhower


    Matrix
    1. Putting things to-do on a list frees your mind. But always question what is worth doing first.
    2. Try limiting yourself to no more than eight tasks per quadrant. Before adding another one,
    complete the most important one first. Remember: It is not about collecting but finishing
    tasks.
    3. You should always maintain only one list for both business and private tasks. That way you
    will never be able to complain about not having done anything for your family or yourself at
    the end of the day.
    4. Do not let you or others distract you. Do not let others define your priority. Plan in the
    morning, then work on your stuff. And in the end, enjoy the feeling of completion.
    5. Finally, try not to procrastinate that much. Not even by over-managing your to-dos.

    Recommended
    Reading

    The 7 Habits of
    Highly Effective People
    by Stephen Covey

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