I keep wanting to start the series “How To Reboot Your Life,” but every time I sit down to start, I realize that there’s another lower level skill that I need to explain first. This post is about prioritizing using the Eisenhower Decision Matrix. We tend to have a constant stream of tasks running through our heads, that are “urgent.” This means they have to be done right away. We spend so much of our day taking care of these thing that we don’t always have time left for things that are important, but not urgent. Unfortunately, this translates into a situation where life kind of passes us by and we keep not getting to the things that really matter and bring us joy. I suggest first doing a Brain Dump, then using this method to prioritize. Eisenhower Decision Matrix Here’s a technique that can help. Have you heard about the Eisenhower Decision Matrix? Many people have studied President Dwight Eisenhower’s strategies for time management and productivity. He was famous for saying, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” By evaluating the importance of each task and contrasting it with the time you have available to complete it, you’re able to classify each task into one of four categories. Everything you have on your to do list will fit into one of these categories. Eisenhower Matrix PDF. Quadrant 1: Important & Urgent These are things that are always screaming to be done and have a tendency to take over our lives. They require direct and immediate attention, and you should focus on completing these first. I would put tasks in this quadrant if they have to be done today or tomorrow at the latest. Here are some examples: Paying a bill that’s due tomorrow Meeting a work deadline Medical emergencies Quadrant 2: Important But NOT Urgent These are the tasks that help you achieve your most important goals. They’re the things you want to do in your life but don’t have to be done right away. Many of these things get looked over and forgotten because they don’t have the urgency of tasking in Q1. Your inclination will always be to focus on the urgent stuff but it’s SO important to prioritize these tasks. Developing a Morning Routine will help you get some of these things done first thing, before life gets busy. Here are some examples of the things that fall into this category: Exercise Me time: meditation, journaling, reading Getting enough sleep Spending time with family and friends Planning your child’s birthday party Going out with friends Your goal is to reduce the number of tasks in quadrant 1 so you can spend most of your time with the tasks in this quadrant. Quadrant 3: NOT Important But Urgent This quadrant can be confusing. These tasks may need to be done and may even need immediate attention, but aren’t going to help you achieve your bigger long-term goals. You may be able to delegate these to other people or postpone them until a more appropriate time when they won’t interfere with what you’re currently doing. Here are some examples: Replying to text messages right away Answering your phone while you’re working Cleaning the house for a party People spend a lot of time in this quadrant (Q3) thinking they’re working in Q1, but though these things may have urgency to them, they really aren’t as important as the things in Q1. You have to evaluate, if spending time on this “right now” is helping me in the long run. Can someone else do this? Will it be more efficient to do this later. For example: Cleaning the house for a party. We all like to clean the house before a party, but it’s definitely not as important to the success of the party as inviting the guests and ordering food, etc… Also, this is something that you can ask other members of the family to help you do. Answering the phone or checking email. These are things that we do need to do, but not in the middle of other tasks you’re trying to accomplish. Get the more important things done first and maybe set aside a time once or twice a day for things like this. Quadrant 4: NOT Important & NOT Urgent These activities are basically, not necessary. These aren’t really tasks that you’re going to schedule. They’re the things that you do when you’re procrastinating and should be largely eliminated. Here are some examples: Watching Netflix Looking at Facebook or Instagram Mindlessly scrolling through Pinterest (or continuing to scroll after you already found 10 good ideas for your project). I’m not saying you can’t ever sit down, relax and watch a show. Relaxing is actually a very important thing to do, but it shouldn’t be done as a means of avoiding the tasks in the other quadrants. Limit time spent in Q4 and be intentional about what you do in Q4 and when you do it. Final Tips You use this Eisenhower Matrix to categorize the tasks when you do a brain dump. Moving forward as new tasks arise, you can keep track of them right on the matrix. On a regular basis, schedule things from this sheet to your daily planner. Alternatively, use 4 sheets of paper to represent the 4 quadrants. I find it really helpful to use a 3 ring or 6 ring day Planner for my scheduling and for this type of information. You can move things around as needed and it keeps everything together. If you organize and plan ahead you’ll take care of more tasks when they are in Q2 status and they won’t ever make it into Q1. This is a more relaxed, less stressful way to live. Try to work at least 3 things from Q2 into every day. Try to limit Q4 activities to only evenings and maybe lunch time. You’ll be way more productive. If you’re struggling to categorize everything, enlist the help of friends. They can often see things we can’t. You could have a planning party and all help each other. Once you do it s few times, it’ll become much easier. Be realistic about what you plan to accomplish each day and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t finish everything on your list. These are tools to help you live a healthier happier life. This isn’t some type of standard that you’re obligated to live up to. It’s meant to help, not stress you out.
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