The Eisenhower Matrix: Improve your life by looking at your priorities
Everyone wants to find the perfect solution to time management so they spend less time working and more time enjoying the world’s joys. Unfortunately, there isn’t just one tool/technique that immediately does this for everyone. Each person is unique and will process work and information differently.
Luckily, there is a myriad of tools to help, and we’re going to explore one; The Eisenhower Matrix.
What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix breaks tasks up into 4 different categories: Do, Schedule, Delegate, and Delete.
DO: Tasks that require personal and urgent attention
Think of this quadrant as your to-do list, things that only you can take care of and need to be done as soon as possible.
These are priority #1, not just for your day, but they should also contribute towards your long-term goals. Growth in the company, overall career, or general skillset improvements.
Utilizing this quadrant correctly can set up your whole day for success by setting influential and achievable goals. Each goal should line up with your long-term plans allowing you to make incremental and positive gains towards your ideal end state.
SCHEDULE: Tasks that require personal attention but without an immediate deadline
In this quadrant, you’d place tasks that will ultimately affect your long-term goals, but don’t need to be completed right away.
These can be scheduled using different time management techniques to help make sure you’re on track.
Some techniques will help you break up your day so you accomplish the distant task in small increments over multiple days. No matter how you approach this quadrant, the matrix will help you stay on target and ahead of schedule to avoid any last-minute cramming sessions.
DELEGATE: Tasks that have an immediate deadline but don’t require personal attention
This quadrant will deal with issues that don’t require personal handling but still have a short deadline.
Since you’re not as personally involved with these tasks, pass them to teammates who would fit them in their own “DO” quadrant. This will foster a more productive environment, and ensure deadlines are still met, even though you’re not directly involved.
DELETE: Tasks that are not urgent and don’t require a personal touch
The “DELETE” quadrant may be overlooked, but it helps identify any issues that don’t require you or your team’s attention.
It is instrumental to identify tasks that are no longer relevant to you and delete them. This helps free up your schedule and may offer you stress relief as you won’t have as much on your plate.
Why Does it work?
The Eisenhower Matrix is an extremely powerful tool, when used correctly can help increase your productivity at work but also shape how you approach daily life.
It’s a useful thought exercise to ask yourself “Does this REALLY require my attention”. After doing this you’ll realize you’ve been putting way too much in your “DO” quadrant, causing a poor shift in priorities.
People tend to take on more than is necessary because we lose sight of what is actually important.
Applying this to your personal life can help improve your work/life balance and personal relationships, as you’ll find value in your community, rather than in your work position.
Your parameters for what is important will change if you make 2 matrices, one for work and another for personal.
Work importance may look like product success, and other goals determined by your leadership.
Personal importance could look like family or personal health, but the beauty is, it’s set by you!
When you set your professional and personal goals, the matrix will help prioritize your tasks to get you where you want to go!
How the matrix helped me
This matrix greatly improved how I prioritized tasks in my life.
I realized that I tend to take on too much, and think I need to be involved in every solution. Being in that mindset for too long can lead to burnout. It was causing me to stress out too much at work and ended up bleeding into my personal family life.
After re-evaluating my priorities, and applying the matrix to my tasks, I felt much more comfortable in my work week. I wasn’t stressing about things that were weeks away and was able to dedicate more time to the important tasks at hand. I also had much less on my plate because I threw a lot of unimportant things into the “DELETE” quadrant.
With this new normal at work, I was able to feel more efficient and productive, which in turn led to a healthier relationship with my profession. The new balance created a much better environment in my home life.
Resources
There are a couple of resources out there to help you apply these principles in your own life.
If you have an iPhone you can use this Eisenhower App
Or try the Web App!
The matrix may not make perfect sense to everyone, so I’ve provided a link to other options here! This article helps break down other time management techniques that will either supplement this matrix or be a better fit for your personality type.
Now that I’ve taken a bit more of a deep dive into this matrix, I wanted to make it into my own side project/web app. If you’re a developer and know any framework that could be suitable, make sure to let me know! Wish me luck!
…Until next time =)
