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What is Eisenhower Matrix template?

Summary. The Eisenhower Matrix is a task management tool that helps you organize and prioritize tasks by urgency and importance. Using the tool, you’ll divide your tasks into four boxes based on the tasks you’ll do first, the tasks you’ll schedule for later, the tasks you’ll delegate, and the tasks you’ll delete.

Why is it called Eisenhower Matrix?

Also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix, it was popularized by Stephen Covey in his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, known for his high output and organization.

How do you make an Eisenhower Matrix?

  1. Do. The first quadrant of the Eisenhower Matrix, Do, consists of your most important tasks. …
  2. Decide. The 2nd quadrant of the Eisenhower Matrix is Decide. …
  3. Delegate. …
  4. Eliminate. …
  5. Give Color Codes to Quadrants. …
  6. Categorize Your Professional and Personal To-dos. …
  7. Limit the Number of Items Per Quadrant.

How can Eisenhower Matrix be used as a student?

Eisenhower Matrix Step By Step Implementation
  1. Step 1 – Brain Dump on Blank Sheet of Paper. …
  2. Step 2 – Draw or Print Out Eisenhower Matrix For The Day. …
  3. Step 3 – Run Each Task on Your Brain Dump Through The Test. …
  4. Step 4 – Batch Similar Items. …
  5. Step 5 – Make Sure All Your Quadrant 1 Tasks Get Done First.

Does Excel have an Eisenhower Matrix template?

Eisenhower Matrix Template will allow you to organize your tasks in Excel and prioritize them according to their urgency and importance level.

Is the Eisenhower Matrix useful?

Important. The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple tool for considering the long-term outcomes of your daily tasks and focusing on what will make you most effective, not just most productive. It helps you visualize all your tasks in a matrix of urgent/important.

What are the 5 principles of time management?

Principles of time management for students
  • Set study time carefully. Consider ‘biological prime time’ to set study time in routine. …
  • Use waiting time productively. …
  • Set your schedule realistically. …
  • Be flexible. …
  • Learn to delegate.

What are the 2 axes in the Eisenhower Box?

The horizontal X-axis represents the level of urgency with the left side being the most urgent and the right side the least. The vertical Y-axis represents importance, with the lowest importance at the bottom, highest at the top.

How many quadrants are there in the Eisenhower Matrix?

As mentioned above, the Eisenhower Matrix consists of four quadrants: important and urgent, not important and urgent, important and not urgent, and not important and not urgent.

What are the 2 dimensions axes of the Eisenhower prioritization matrix?

The matrix consists of 4 quadrants, the bases of which are two axes – the axis of importance (vertical) and the axis of urgency (horizontal).

What is Eisenhower’s urgent vs important principle and give an example of how you can use it?

How to Use Eisenhower’s Principle. To use this principle, list all of the activities and projects that you feel you have to do. Try to include everything that takes up your time at work, however unimportant. (If you manage your time using a To-Do List or Action Program, you will have done this already.)

How will you use the Eisenhower Matrix to improve your study habits and be a productive engineer?

Here are the basic steps you can take to effectively use the Eisenhower method:
  • Classify urgent and important tasks. Start by evaluating your list of tasks and classifying the urgent and important tasks. …
  • Complete the “do” quadrant. …
  • Move to the “decide” quadrant. …
  • Complete the “delegate” quadrant. …
  • Eliminate unnecessary tasks.

How do you prioritize a matrix task?

6 Easy Tips on How to Use Prioritization Matrix
  1. List and Rank Your Priorities. Highlight all the tasks you need to carry out in a day. …
  2. Define the Value. …
  3. Take out the Most Challenging Task. …
  4. Know What’s Important to You. …
  5. Establish Regular “No Work” Time. …
  6. Know When to Stop.

How can you use the urgent important matrix to Prioritise goals?

The essence of the simple but powerful Urgent Important Matrix is:
  1. To consciously give priority to our most important tasks and to plan and delegate so that we deal with problems BEFORE they become urgent crises and.
  2. To become aware of our interruptions and distractions so that we can reduce or eliminate them.

How do you use prioritization matrix?

To create a project priority matrix, you first need to create a list of potential projects. Next, determine your selection criteria and their weights, then input scores for each item. Finally, compare the scores to decide on your next project. Use the matrix that is best for the job.

What is Action priority matrix?

An action priority matrix is a diagram that helps people determine which tasks to focus on, and in which order. You create this matrix using two components. First, draw a graph that measures effort along the x-axis and impact along the y-axis. Next, add four boxes to the graph, two stacked on top of the others.


The Eisenhower matrix: How to manage your tasks with EISENHOWER
The Eisenhower matrix: How to manage your tasks with EISENHOWER


The Eisenhower Matrix: How to Prioritize Your To-Do List • Asana

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  • Table of Contents:

What is the Eisenhower Matrix

How to distinguish between urgent and important tasks

The four quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix

4 tips for prioritizing your tasks

Eisenhower Matrix example

Build your Eisenhower Matrix with task management tools

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The Eisenhower Matrix: How to Prioritize Your To-Do List • Asana
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The Eisenhower Matrix: Prioritize Your Time on What Matters Most – Knock Down Silos by Slab

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  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for The Eisenhower Matrix: Prioritize Your Time on What Matters Most – Knock Down Silos by Slab Updating Most people waste time on tasks that don’t inch them closer to their goals. The Eisenhower Matrix breaks you from that cycle.
  • Table of Contents:

What is the Eisenhower Matrix

The difference between urgent and important tasks

The quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix

Prioritizing your tasks

Investing time in making time

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What Is the Eisenhower Matrix? How to Use It to Be More Productive? – nTask

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Features

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What is the Eisenhower Matrix

How to use the Eisenhower Matrix for Time Management

Using a Project Management Tool to Implement Eisenhower Matrix

Gantt Charts in nTask Vs Eisenhower Matrix

Sounds complicated right

What Is the Eisenhower Matrix? How to Use It to Be More Productive? - nTask
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How To Use The Eisenhower Matrix To Help Your Child Plan Their Day | Life Skills Advocate

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  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for How To Use The Eisenhower Matrix To Help Your Child Plan Their Day | Life Skills Advocate Updating Often one of the biggest barriers to getting things done for people with autism is not knowing where to begin. Learn how the Eisenhower Matrix can help!
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Executive Functioning 101 The Basics of Emotional Control

Helping Your Child Overcome Decision Fatigue (part 2)

Task Initiation Tools to Support Your Adolescent

Finding Focus How to Help Your Teen with Paying Attention

7 Cognitive Flexibility IEP Goals for Real Life

Turning The Abstract to Concrete

The 4 Quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix

Don’t Be Rigid For Rigidity Sake

Eisenhower Matrix Step By Step Implementation

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How To Use The Eisenhower Matrix To Help Your Child Plan Their Day | Life Skills Advocate
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Eisenhower Poster – Etsy

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The Eisenhower Matrix: How to Prioritize Your To-Do List • Asana

Summary The Eisenhower Matrix is a task management tool that helps you organize and prioritize tasks by urgency and importance. Using the tool, you’ll divide your tasks into four boxes based on the tasks you’ll do first, the tasks you’ll schedule for later, the tasks you’ll delegate, and the tasks you’ll delete. In this piece, we’ll explain how to set up an Eisenhower Matrix and provide tips for task prioritization.

Making a to-do list is the first step toward getting work done. But how do you determine what to tackle first when you don’t have enough time to do everything in one day? With effective prioritization, you can increase your productivity and ensure that your most urgent tasks get immediate attention.

The Eisenhower Matrix is a task management tool that helps you distinguish between urgent and important tasks so you can establish an efficient workflow. In this article, we’ll explain how to set up an Eisenhower Matrix and provide tips for task prioritization.

What is the Eisenhower Matrix?

The Eisenhower Matrix is a way to organize tasks by urgency and importance, so you can effectively prioritize your most important work.

Dwight D. Eisenhower—the 34th President of the United States and a five-star general during World War II—presented the idea that would later lead to the Eisenhower Matrix. In a 1954 speech, Eisenhower quoted an unnamed university president when he said, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, took Eisenhower’s words and used them to develop the now-popular task management tool known as the Eisenhower Matrix.

The Eisenhower Matrix is also known as the time management matrix, the Eisenhower Box, and the urgent-important matrix. This tool helps you divide your tasks into four categories: the tasks you’ll do first, the tasks you’ll schedule for later, the tasks you’ll delegate, and the tasks you’ll delete.

How to distinguish between urgent and important tasks

Urgent and important may seem like similar words, but when analyzing them in terms of the Eisenhower principle, the difference between the two is crucial. Differentiating between urgent and important within the Eisenhower Matrix can help you identify which tasks you should jump on and which tasks might be better handled by other team members.

Urgent tasks require your immediate attention. When something is urgent, it must be done now, and there are clear consequences if you don’t complete these tasks within a certain timeline. These are tasks you can’t avoid, and the longer you delay these tasks, the more stress you’ll likely experience, which can lead to burnout.

Examples of urgent tasks may include:

Finishing a project with a last-minute due date

Handling an urgent client request

Fixing a busted pipe in your apartment

Important tasks may not require immediate attention, but these tasks help you achieve your long-term goals. Just because these tasks are less urgent doesn’t mean they don’t matter. You’ll need to thoughtfully plan for these tasks so you can use your resources efficiently.

Examples of important tasks may include:

Planning a long-term project

Professional networking to build a client base

Regular chores and maintenance projects

Once you know how to distinguish between urgent and important tasks, you can begin separating your tasks into the four quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix.

The four quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix

A long to-do list of tasks can feel overwhelming, but the goal of the Eisenhower Matrix is to go through these tasks one by one and separate them by quadrant. Once you can see your tasks in their designated categories, you’ll be able to schedule them and accomplish your most important work.

Quadrant 1: Do

Quadrant one is the “do” quadrant, and this is where you’ll place any tasks that are both urgent and important. When you see a task on your to-do list that must be done now, has clear consequences, and affects your long-term goals, place it in this quadrant.

There should be no question about which tasks fall into this quadrant, because these are the tasks that are at the front of your mind and are likely stressing you out the most.

Quadrant 2: Schedule

Quadrant two is the “schedule” quadrant, and this is where you’ll place any tasks that are not urgent but are still important. Because these tasks affect your long-term goals but don’t need to be done right away, you can schedule these tasks for later.

You’ll tackle these tasks right after you tackle the tasks in quadrant one. You can use various time management tips to help you accomplish the tasks in this quadrant. Some helpful strategies may include the Pareto principle or the Pomodoro method.

Quadrant 3: Delegate

Quadrant three is the “delegate” quadrant, and this is where you’ll place any tasks that are urgent but not important. These tasks must be completed now, but they don’t affect your long-term goals.

Because you don’t have a personal attachment to these tasks and they likely don’t require your specific skill set to complete, you can delegate these tasks to other members of your team. Delegating tasks is one of the most efficient ways to manage your workload and give your team the opportunity to expand their skill set.

Quadrant 4: Delete

Once you’ve gone through your to-do list and added tasks to the first three quadrants, you’ll notice that a handful of tasks are left over. The tasks left over are tasks that weren’t urgent or important.

These unimportant, non-urgent distractions are simply getting in the way of you accomplishing your goals. Place these remaining items on your to-do list in the fourth quadrant, which is the “delete” quadrant.

4 tips for prioritizing your tasks

The best way to understand the difference between urgency and importance is to use the Eisenhower Matrix, but you may still find yourself struggling to prioritize your tasks. Here are some tips that can help you with prioritization as you sort your tasks in each quadrant.

1. Color-code your tasks

Color-coding your tasks is a tactic that can help you visualize high-priority items. As you go through your to-do list tool, try giving yourself four colors based on level of priority. Use the code as follows:

Green = Highest priority items

Yellow = Second-highest priority

Blue = Third-highest priority

Red = Not a priority

Once you’ve labeled your tasks by color, these colors will directly translate to your Eisenhower Matrix. Your green tasks are your “do” tasks for quadrant one. Your yellow tasks are your “schedule” tasks for quadrant two. Your blue tasks are your “delegate” tasks for quadrant three, and your red tasks are your “delete” tasks for quadrant four.

2. Limit tasks to 10 per quadrant

Even if you have a lot of tasks on your to-do list, try to limit your tasks to 10 items per quadrant. This will keep your Eisenhower Matrix from becoming cluttered and overwhelming.

You can make multiple matrices, but limiting your task list to necessary action items will ensure you’re beginning the prioritization process with no time to waste.

3. Make personal and professional to-do lists

Another way to limit the number of items on your Eisenhower Matrix is to create separate matrices for your personal and professional to-do lists.

Your work and personal tasks require different timelines, resources, and methods, and they’ll likely require different thought processes as well. In order to effectively manage your personal and professional goals, you’ll need to divide and conquer.

4. Eliminate, then prioritize

Eliminate unnecessary tasks first to effectively prioritize. With this strategy, you’ll address quadrant four before moving on to quadrants one, two, and three.

As you skim through your to-do list, assess what items you’ve written down that don’t need to be there.

In fact, 60% of our time at work is spent on work about work—things like sharing status approvals or following up on information. If you can quickly scratch off items, go ahead and do so. This will speed up the prioritization process, and you’ll likely go through a second round of elimination on the back end.

Eisenhower Matrix example

To get a better understanding of what tasks you may place in each quadrant of your Eisenhower Matrix, we’ve gone ahead and provided some examples for you here.

Examples of tasks you may include in quadrant 1:

Write a blog post due tomorrow

Finish a project proposal

Respond to client emails

Examples of tasks you may include in quadrant 2:

Sign up for a professional development course

Attend a networking event

Add improvements to a personal project

Examples of tasks you may include in quadrant 3:

Upload blog posts

Transcribing meeting notes

Fielding non-client emails

Examples of tasks you may include in quadrant 4:

Work about work

Attending a status meeting

Sharing status approvals

Remember that it’s best to have separate matrices for work and home life so you can tackle your to-do lists using methods best suited for the time and place.

Sorting through your to-do list is the hardest part of the Eisenhower Matrix, but with automation, you no longer need to do this step manually.

Use task management software to determine which of your tasks are of highest priority. With task management, you can categorize, color-code, and delegate tasks to your team. Let the Eisenhower Matrix increase your productivity so you can achieve your goals in less time.

The Eisenhower Matrix: Prioritize Your Time on What Matters Most

Being busy is not the same as being productive.

You could spend hours putting out fires and at the end of the day be no closer to reaching your long-term goals.

This is a costly and emotionally draining way to spend your time.

The issue is poor prioritization. Humans prioritize time-sensitive tasks over any other task, regardless of the long-term payoffs.

When you focus too much time on urgent tasks, you neglect the important ones on your to-do list. It’s easy to get stuck in this reactionary cycle where you constantly put out fires, robbing yourself of the opportunity to work toward your goals.

By distinguishing between urgent and important tasks, you can focus more time and energy on the things that matter most.

The Eisenhower Matrix helps you make that distinction and improve your time management.

What is the Eisenhower Matrix

“I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple decision-making tool that helps you make the distinction between tasks that are important, not important, urgent, and not urgent. It splits tasks into four boxes that prioritize which tasks you should focus on first and which you should delegate or delete.

Also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix, it was popularized by Stephen Covey in his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, known for his high output and organization. President Eisenhower is said to have arranged his obligations so that only the important and urgent matters came across his desk.

The Eisenhower Matrix uses this same principle to sort out the less urgent and important tasks on your list, which you can then delegate or not do at all.

The Eisenhower Matrix can help if you:

Run around putting out fires all day, rather than focusing on tasks you want to complete

Are busy but feel like your work has little impact

Aren’t making progress on long-term goals

​Suffer from procrastination

Struggle to say “no” when asked to do something

Have a hard time delegating tasks

The difference between urgent and important tasks

The core principle behind the Eisenhower Matrix is the distinction between important and urgent tasks.

Urgent tasks are time-sensitive and demand your attention. They’re tasks you feel obligated to address. Focusing on urgent tasks puts you in a reactive mindset, which can make you feel defensive, rushed, and narrowly-focused.

Important tasks contribute to your long-term mission, values, and goals. They may not yield immediate results (making them easy to neglect). Sometimes important tasks are also urgent — but usually not. Focusing on important tasks puts you in a responsive mindset, which can make you feel calm, rational, and open to new ideas.

Note: If you put off important tasks long enough, they can become urgent.

People tend to believe that all urgent tasks are also important — when frequently, they are not. This misrepresentation may have to do with our preference for focusing on short-term problems and solutions.

But happiness and fulfillment come when we focus on the long-term.

The quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix is divided into four parts:

Quadrant 1: Important and urgent / Do

Quadrant 2: Important but not urgent / Schedule

Quadrant 3: Urgent but not important / Delegate

Quadrant 4: Not important, not urgent / Delete

1. Urgent and important tasks

Urgent and important tasks are crises with due dates — such as a critical bug fix for your SaaS tool.

Do these tasks first. They require your immediate attention.

2. Not urgent but important tasks

Not urgent but important tasks help you achieve your goal — and don’t have a pressing deadline.

Schedule these tasks to do later.

Productive and successful people spend most of their time here — this quadrant yields the most satisfaction. Covey called it the Quadrant of Quality.

Most people, however, don’t spend enough time here, because they don’t know what’s important to them or because they’re fixated on the most pressing tasks at hand.

3. Urgent and not important tasks

Tasks that fall in this quadrant are nearly always interruptions from your preferred course. These are tasks where you help others meet their goals.

Delegate these tasks to others.

Most people spend the majority of their time in this quadrant. They believe they’re working on urgent tasks that are important to them when in reality, completing these tasks does nothing to inch them closer to their long-term goals.

4. Not urgent and not important tasks

These tasks aren’t pressing, nor do they help you reach your long-term goals. They’re simply distractions from what matters most.

Delete these tasks from your schedule.

Prioritizing your tasks

First, evaluate where on the matrix you spend your time. Track your time for one week. You can use a dedicated task management tool or simply track your time in 30-minute increments in a spreadsheet.

After one week, organize your completed tasks into the appropriate quadrant using the following questions as your criteria:

Was this urgent for me? Was this important to me?

“Me” is the integral word here — you’re organizing these tasks based on your goals, not someone else’s.

Now that your tasks are sorted, take note of the quadrant with the most tasks. If most of your tasks live inside Quadrant 2, congratulations! You have a grasp over what matters most in your life.

However, if you’re a mere mortal, here’s how you can rebalance your matrix.

Quadrant 1

To reduce the number of Quadrant 1 tasks you have, invest time in planning to anticipate and prevent problems.

What changes can you make to avoid unexpected problems from arising? This may include collaborating with colleagues, clients, or supervisors to restructure your workflow.

If one person or entity is the source of Quadrant 1 tasks, you may need to find a way to remove yourself from working with this person.

Quadrant 3

To reduce Quadrant 3 tasks, create a strategy to delegate, eliminate, or limit the amount of time you spend on these tasks.

For example, batch these tasks together to complete in one sitting, or share with your supervisor how much time you spend on busywork. If you’re a manager, let your team know you’ll be delegating tasks to them so you can reprioritize your schedule.

Quadrant 4

If most of your time is spent in Quadrant 4, you likely feel stressed and unfulfilled. Continue to track your time to identify which tasks consume the most time. Then develop a plan to delete or limit them. Seek advice from a colleague or supervisor — their objective perspective might make it easier to identify which tasks you can delegate or delete.

Investing time in making time

Repeat the above process every week for a month. Compare each week’s results to see if your efforts result in more time spent in the Quadrant of Quality.

Even as your priorities shift toward Quadrant 2, continue using the Eisenhower Matrix to organize your day. Quadrant 2 will often include abstract tasks like strategy development and relationship building. These tasks don’t have deadlines, making them easy to put aside. But these tasks are directly aligned with your long-term goals, values, and happiness.

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” — Stephen Covey

Most people struggle to find time in their busy schedules to tackle those important but not urgent tasks. Integrating the Eisenhower Matrix into your daily workflow will help you schedule your priorities based on what’s most important to you.

What Is the Eisenhower Matrix? How to Use It to Be More Productive?

Stephanie is a hard worker when it comes to her professional responsibilities. Pushing through the day, she makes sure she gets done what she’s expected to, often more. Sitting late at work, pulling an all-nighter, missing personal obligations for professional commitments is all too common an experience for her.

And all the important family commitments that she has missed is an entirely different story on its own. But all this is now taking a toll on her health (both mental and physical), and her productivity.

So, what exactly is missing from her life? You guessed it – Eisenhower Matrix.

Often times, you may not realize it but the only thing you need in your life is a little bit of organization and prioritization of what needs to be done to fulfill the overlapping commitments.

With that being said, you’re probably thinking it’s not that difficult after all. You’re wrong and right at the same time. Wrong in a way that if you think just randomly making a to-do list is going to work wonders for you, it will work, but not in a mind-blowing way.

And you’re right, with a little bit more effort and by using Eisenhower Matrix, your life will get a whole lot better.

What is the Eisenhower Matrix?

Eisenhower Matrix is a method of prioritizing your tasks on the basis of their urgency. It helps to determine the activities which are important and the ones which do not deserve your attention at all. The brainchild behind the famous Eisenhower Matrix is Dwight D. Eisenhower.

One of his famous quotes is, “most things which are urgent are not important, and most things which are important are not urgent.”

This quote sets the basis for Dwight’s personal time management too.

Coming towards the matrix, the matrix basically categorizes your tasks into 4 quadrants according to what you need to do at a particular time during your day.

These 4 quadrants are:

Do Decide Delegate Eliminate

1. Do

The first quadrant of the Eisenhower Matrix, Do, consists of your most important tasks. The activities which need to be done urgently. The tasks with a deadline approaching or the ones that cannot be delayed generally fall in this category.

For putting tasks in this category, you need to thoroughly analyze your priorities first and then decide if it fits with the do it now criteria. If the task needs to be done within a day, or no longer than the next day, it is an urgent task. Do.it.now!

Another way to put this in context is to keep in mind the famous ‘eat the frog first principle’ of Mark Twain, connotating that you should do your most urgent tasks for the day the first thing in the morning.

Let’s take a concrete work example here to make things easy for you. At the end of each week, you’re delegated with the responsibility of providing a comprehensive report to your manager. Now, your weekends on Friday. It’s Thursday morning already and you haven’t prepared the report. Does this classify as an urgent task? Absolutely!

2. Decide

The 2nd quadrant of the Eisenhower Matrix is Decide. It constitutes of the tasks which are important, but not necessarily urgent. This could include an array of responsibilities ranging from professional emails, follow-ups, to more personal appointments and commitments.

Tasks in this quadrant need to be scheduled for some other time. Generally, these tasks are in line with your long-term goals and contribute to your growth. A common everyday example could be to exercise. You know it’s crucial to good health, but you cannot dedicate time to it. So, you need to decide the time when you’re ready to hit it.

Schedule tasks in a way that they do not transfer to the ‘urgent’ category. Make sure you have enough time to execute them while they still fit in this division.

Also read: How to Write Company OKRs for Effective Goal-Setting?

3. Delegate

3rd quadrant of the Eisenhower Matrix is Delegate. This category refers to the tasks which are not important, but urgent. Although it sounds counter-intuitive because naturally, your first instinct would be that aren’t tasks which are urgent, important too? Not necessarily!

These activities generally give you the deception of being important, while in reality, they don’t really contribute much towards your productivity. You need to decide whether you need to reschedule it or if someone else can do it for you.

Some of the examples can include scheduling interviews, replying to certain emails, or team meetings that can be conducted by someone else, while you’re busy executing your quadrant 1 activities.

4. Eliminate

The last category of the Eisenhower Matrix is Eliminate. These consists of tasks that are essentially your productivity killers. They do not contribute at all towards your goals. Identify these activities and eliminate them to give your productivity a boost.

Common examples of these activities include mindless surfing on social media, constantly checking your phone for calls or messages, playing video games, or general activities that you use to procrastinate.

See also:

15 Best Productivity Quotes by Productivity Gurus

How to use the Eisenhower Matrix for Time Management

If by now you’re wondering your life will magically become organized by using this matrix, it’s not that easy! But by putting in a little bit of effort, you can get yourself on track.

First things first, you need to classify your urgent and important activities. For doing so, you need to set your priorities right and define urgency levels.

Your urgent tasks are usually the ones which have a time constraint attached to them. These activities have a ‘do it now’ written all over them and require your utmost attention.

On the other hand, your important tasks are generally long term and rather goal-oriented. Generally, they don’t give you immediate results and are more focused on making better long-term decisions.

After you’re done classifying your urgent and important tasks, the next few things you need to do to fully utilize the potential of Eisenhower matrix for time management are:

1. Give Color Codes to Quadrants

Assign color codes to your quadrants to quickly help you understand the gravity of the situation. By allocating colors, you can get a quick glance at what needs to be done next. These color codes also help you to prioritize your tasks to make informed decisions.

For example; the do quadrant can be colored red to indicate the urgency of tasks.

2. Categorize Your Professional and Personal To-dos

To avoid over-lapping commitments, make separate matrices for your professional and personal tasks. This will steer you clear for what lies ahead and will greatly influence how you manage your time. A trick here can be to dedicate distinct hours of the day for both kinds of commitments and see how that works for you.

3. Limit the Number of Items Per Quadrant

Adding too many items per quadrant will over-complicate things and the purpose of using the Eisenhower matrix for time management will be lost. To optimize it, limit the number of actions to 7 or 8. That way you won’t be overwhelmed with what you need to do.

See also:

The 25 Best Productivity Books to Unleash Your Absolute Best

Using a Project Management Tool to Implement Eisenhower Matrix

Let’s just admit the fact that if you don’t opt for professional tools for time management, you’re missing out on a lot. For this matrix to work like a magic wand, you need a project management tool. At this juncture, let us introduce you to nTask.

Use nTask to manage your time effectively without any fear of procrastination. Following features of the tool will help you to improve your productivity drastically and eliminate time wasters:

Checklists: begin by listing down your to-dos in the form of a checklist. This will set the basis for identifying your professional and personal to-dos and will help you to define what you should be working on next

begin by listing down your to-dos in the form of a checklist. This will set the basis for identifying your professional and personal to-dos and will help you to define what you should be working on next Category: once you’re done making a checklist and creating respective tasks, you can associate distinct categories to make things clear for yourself or your team. The categories are completely customizable and can be used in any way the user wants

once you’re done making a checklist and creating respective tasks, you can associate distinct categories to make things clear for yourself or your team. The categories are completely customizable and can be used in any way the user wants Priority Level: finally, assign priority levels to your tasks according to their urgency. These priority levels will facilitate in deciding the appropriate quadrant of the matrix your tasks fit in and what should be your next course of action

finally, assign priority levels to your tasks according to their urgency. These priority levels will facilitate in deciding the appropriate quadrant of the matrix your tasks fit in and what should be your next course of action Timesheets: for analyzing the time you or your team spends on high or low priority tasks, you can easily log hours in timesheets and later evaluate it to decide where you need improvements

Gantt Charts in nTask Vs. Eisenhower Matrix

Since we have already reiterated some of the variables of the Eisenhower Matrix, it is time to see things at a deeper level.

Recall the following quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix – i.e.

Do

Decide

Delegate

Eliminate

Most of the time, some tasks have an urgent nature. To that end, there may not be any urgency during the initial phases of a project, but it could happen anytime. Imagine falling back on a deadline due to un-deliverables or additional requests from the client.

In that case, the Eisenhower Matrix workflow goes through metamorphosis phase. This happens because you are doing things differently due to last minute or mid-term project requirements on behalf of anyone up the food change.

In such instances, remember that the quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix remain the same. The only thing that changes is task dependencies and many other intricacies.

Speaking of task dependencies, we added interactive Gantt Chart user experience to nTask. It is a powerful built-in feature where you can see these dependencies in grid view mode. You can interlink any number of tasks with others if one task is dependent on something else.

At times, these dependencies become part of the project because of the nature of milestones. For instance, the developers may be required to deliver on a feature, but they can’t proceed if they don’t have a design/ framework to go by with. In such scenarios, dependencies play a vital role.

Moving on, issue elimination is extremely convenient in the nTask. Since “Elimination” is part of the Eisenhower Matrix quadrants, you can mitigate issues by identifying them and handing them over to an assignee in your team.

Manage and prioritize your most important work with nTask! Use it for personal or team productivity. nTask is free and includes unlimited tasks and checklists.

Get Started for Free

Sounds complicated, right?

Well, when you stumble upon any number of problems, you can raise Red Flags and create issues. Afterward, all you need to do is assign someone to that “issue” so that the problem can be rectified on time.

This is the best way of ensuring smooth workflow while specific people work to “eliminate” the issue in the background.

Managing workflow based on the Eisenhower Matrix was just one part of the equation. A lot of other elements come into play during the lifetime of a project. You need to account for unforeseen circumstances, such as vacations, sick leaves, and other disasters that team members bestow upon project managers from time to time!

So, what are you waiting for? Use the Eisenhower matrix now and maximize your productivity now. Let us know how it works for you.

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