Do you feel like you’re always busy but not productive? You’re not alone. A lot of people struggle with this issue. The good news is that there’s a simple solution: the Eisenhower Matrix.
Made popular and refined by Stephen Covey in his book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, the Eisenhower Matrix is a way to help you prioritise your work so that you can be more effective. This tool can help you prioritise your work so that you can be more effective and have more time to play golf (or do whatever it is you enjoy). In this blog post, we will discuss how to use the Eisenhower Matrix and show you how it can help you achieve your goals! At the same time, we’ll also look at why people stop using the tool.
The Eisenhower Matrix is named after former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was known for his effective time management techniques. The matrix is based on the premise that we should spend our time on activities that are important and urgent (quadrant one), important but not urgent (quadrant two), not important but urgent (quadrant three), and not important and not urgent (quadrant four). This is a simple but effective way to prioritise your work so that you can focus on what’s important.
To use the Eisenhower Matrix, you first need to identify your goals. What are you trying to achieve? Once you have your goals in mind, you can start evaluating your tasks. Ask yourself: is this task important? Is it urgent? If the answer to both questions is yes, then the task goes in quadrant one. If the answer to either question is no, then the task goes in quadrant four.
Tasks that are important but not urgent go in quadrant two. These are tasks that you should be doing but they don’t have a strict deadline. For example, developing a business plan. It’s also the quadrant that deserves most of your attention. Why? Because these are the tasks that will help you achieve your goals.
Tasks that are urgent but not important go in quadrant three. These are tasks that need to be done but they’re not directly related to your goals. It’s also often related to O.P.P. that is, “Other People’s Problems” that can hijack your time. It’s important to attend to them at some stage but it’s not going to help you achieve your goals so should not be a priority. Delegate whenever possible is the key to tasks in this quadrant.
Finally, tasks that are neither important nor urgent go in quadrant four. These are tasks that you can safely ignore. For example, checking social media or binge watching Netflix.
So, we know that the key to using the Eisenhower Matrix is to focus on Quadrant One and Two tasks. Why don’t people stick to it?
The answer is simple: because we allow Other People’s Problems to hijack our week when we don’t segment our work weeks appropriately. It takes discipline to focus on Quadrant One and Two tasks. It also takes a high level of intentionality.
The good news is that there are ways to make it easier. One way is to make sure that you load the start of the week with your Quadrant One and Two tasks. It could be as simple as planning Quadrant One tasks on Mondays and Quadrant Two tasks on Tuesdays. This will ensure that you give plenty of attention to them and make good headways into those tasks. It will give you a sense of accomplishment at the start of the week.
Your reward for accomplishing those tasks could be playing a round of golf on Wednesday. It’s an important but not urgent task because it can be a great mid-week reward for accomplishing all your work related Quadrant One and Two tasks. The idea of having golf as a rewards also has the ability to get dopamine flowing through your body. Quadrant Three tasks can be left till after your round of golf towards the second half of the week.
Finally, make sure that you review your goals regularly. This will help you keep re-prioritising on what’s important and ensure that you’re making progress towards your goals each week. Note that the level of urgency and importance of tasks can change and hence the need for you to schedule time to review them, at least weekly if not daily.
So there you have it: the Eisenhower Matrix and how it can help you achieve your goals and enjoy your time on the golf course!
What are your thoughts on the Eisenhower Matrix? Do you use it to prioritise your work? Let us know in the comments below!