If US President Dwight D. Eisenhower were alive today, he would probably be using an iPhone. And he would be using it in a very specific way – with his Eisenhower matrix to prioritise the use of the phone. The Eisenhower matrix made famous by Stephen Covey in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is a tool that many people have used to organise and prioritise tasks, based on their urgency and importance. In this blog post, we will look at how Eisenhower would use the iPhone to communicate, and how to treat different forms of communication in terms of urgency and importance.
There are many forms of communication that can be used on the iPhone, and Eisenhower would rank them in terms of urgency and importance. The most urgent form of communication is probably a phone call, followed by a text message. These are synchronous forms of communication, which means that they require an immediate response. Eisenhower would probably prioritise these over email and app notifications, which are asynchronous forms of communication.
Email is important, but it can wait. Unfortunately, too many have used emails for urgent and important matters, rather than to actually pick up the phone and speak to that person. Eisenhower would probably only check email a few times a day, most likely only when he is back in the Oval Office, and would not be constantly refreshing his inbox on his phone.
Importantly, his iPhone would not have notifications turned on to alert him of a new email. The only time he would know that there are outstanding emails is when he is either back at his computer or when it is the set time on his daily schedule to check emails if he is away from the office.
With all other app notifications, they can also wait. Eisenhower would probably turn off most, unless they were for something truly urgent. For example, he might have notifications turned on for his calendar, to remind him of upcoming meetings, but he would probably not have them turned on for social media or news apps. He understands the issues caused from constant notifications distractions, followed by the mindless and endless scrolling once you click on the social media app. For someone who prides himself on being highly effective, Eisenhower would not want to waste his time on something that provides little value.
Instead, he would use it in a way that is deliberate and purposeful, in order to achieve his goals . Eisenhower once said, “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” This quote sums up his approach to using the iPhone if he was alive today. As we know, it’s also applicable to how we should approach life in general.
Of course, this is not to say that Eisenhower would never pick up his phone. He would just be very intentional about when and how he used it. In our fast-paced, always-on world, it is important to take a step back and think about how we are using our time. The Eisenhower matrix can help us to do this by prioritising tasks based on their urgency and importance. So, the next time you pick up your phone, ask yourself: is this urgent and important? Or can it wait?
It is worth noting that the above lays the responsibility on the individual to set the right boundaries for themselves. However, Johann Hari argues in his book Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention that the world needs to understand what technology companies are doing to us, the users, intentionally making their products more and more addictive, and harder to turn off. If Eisenhower was alive today and he was the President, what policies would he impose on big technology companies if he realised that addictions to technology was not the fault of the individual.
What do you think? Would he be prepared to take on the big tech companies?
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