Time Management Matrix
Redeem the Time
Published in
2 min readJul 29, 2022
Quadrant 1 — Do
- Many important activities become urgent because we procrastinate or because we do not plan ahead.
- This quadrant steals your energy; it creates stress; and it can steal your time from the things that are most important to you. It leaves you feeling like you have no control over your life or job.
Quadrant 2 — Decide
- This is where we do our long-term planning, anticipate problems and prevent them, study ahead, expand our minds, grow ourselves, and build relationships.
- This quadrant can increase your productivity in the long run, minimize stress, and improve your overall performance. Living in this quadrant gives you control of your life.
- This quadrant is the most important but is the most neglected.
Quadrant 3 — Delegate
- These are activities that seem important because of their urgency, but they are not. We have to learn to minimize these distractions and say “no” to them or delegate them.
Quadrant 4 — Delete
- We spend time in Quadrant 4 because we’re exhausted from spending too much time in the urgent (Quadrant 1). We “escape” from the high stress, heavy work, and urgent moments by doing mindless activities that are not very important to us and are not refreshing or restful.
- This quadrant distracts us from doing the things we love. “Where did all my time go?”
- Oftentimes things of this quadrant are addictive, and we do them without thinking.
