Tackle What Matters: A Guide to the Eisenhower Matrix
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been balancing new projects, alongside the closure of the site attached to my last company.
To do this means that each day there are a number of decisions to make around prioritisation of my workload. With a number of tasks requiring attention, something was needed to give me clarity around where to place my focus.
This is where the Eisenhower Matrix came in to help me. If you are looking for a technique to improve how you prioritise goals, then read on to find out more.
What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix was created by President Dwight Eisenhower, as a system to prioritise tasks when he was a US Army General, NATO Supreme Allied Commander, and President.
The Eisenhower Matrix uses a table system, asking you to choose between two criteria for every task; “Important” vs “Not Important”, and “Urgent” vs “Not Urgent”.
Why is it Useful?
By questioning the importance of your task against the selected criteria, you are given a clear framework to prioritise tasks.
- “Do” – These are your most important tasks, which are your top priorities for completion.
- “Decide” – Tasks in this section will need to be done, however can be set in your schedule for a later point in time.
- “Delegate” – Find a suitable person or company that can complete this task, and any more like it in the future.
- “Delete” – Tasks that fall into this category can be removed from your list.
The benefit of labelling your tasks against this system will provide a definitive way forward to take control of what truly matters to you.
Using the Eisenhower Matrix
As mentioned in the introduction, I have been finding the Eisenhower Matrix a great tool for helping me to prioritise my own list of tasks.
These have typically fallen into the below categories:
- Important & urgent: Project and sales meetings, where I was required to be present.
- Important, not urgent: Administration and emails, that are not time sensitive, however require reply to progress projects.
- Urgent, not important: Meetings which were urgent, but did not require my presence.
- Not urgent & not important: A reorganisation of my workspace, which I cancelled to provide more time for project progression.
These are just a small number of items which came across my matrix and hopefully provide a steer to the types of task which you may be handling.
Challenges of Using the Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix is undoubtably a powerful tool to prioritise tasks, however a word of warning for these items:
- Overthinking where a task fits: Some tasks won’t slot simply into one of these sections. Try to find the closest fit and choose whether to lean more towards high or low importance/urgency when it comes to 50/50 calls.
- No tasks for deletion: It may be that you don’t have any tasks that require deletion. That is completely normal, so focus on the remaining sections to progress.
- Tasks always fall in “Decide”: The ability to schedule a task for a later date is great, until the same item is always falling within "Decide". Remember that at some point, their urgency level should rise, pushing them into the “Do” category, whilst ensuring that you are strict with any scheduled time allocated for tasks.
The Power of the Matrix
Over the last two weeks, the Eisenhower Matrix has been a powerful tool in prioritising my workload. This has enabled me to focus on what matters.
If you are looking to prioritise your own tasks, then the Eisenhower Matrix is the tool for you. If you use this matrix, we would love to hear how you get on!
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