The Eisenhower Matrix
How to increase productivity and better manage your time as you sort through what’s urgent and important in your work and career.
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Ambitious people face time management challenges every day. It is easy to shift focus to work we are familiar or comfortable with–tasks that may be easy and unimportant. This focus on familiar or busy work can give the illusion of being productive.
The uncertainty of beginning a new project or responsibility can at times provoke a lack of confidence, and anxiety. As humans, we protect ourselves from these feelings by avoiding them. Hence, we busy ourselves with less important tasks.
I’ve wrestled with these challenges. When a colleague once identified my hesitancy to attack a new and big project, I needed to be honest with myself. I started by noticing how I spend my time in an objective and thoughtful way, and to also be honest with feelings of fear and uncertainty about this daunting project waiting for me.
Use the Eisenhower Matrix to Better Manage Your Time & Stay On Task
A healthy approach to time management includes both an objective and a mindful approach about how we spend our time. President Eisenhower, also the creator of the Eisenhower Matrix, influenced leaders and followers—people like you and me—to place a high value on how they spent their time.
To do that, he created a matrix to help us identify tasks and activities that keep us in the Important row—tasks labeled as either Do Today or Schedule to Do. Should we find ourselves doing tasks in the Not Important row, the President’s Matrix guides us to Delegate those tasks or Eliminate them.
The Eisenhower Matrix has been my productivity road map for many years—something I can glance at and quickly assess how I spend my time. And if I’m feeling uncertain or fearful about successfully accomplishing a new task, I take particular note if I’m hanging out in the Not Important row.
Recognize and Act Upon Your Unproductive Activities
Spending a couple hours a day in the Not Important and Not Urgent quadrant (such as mindless internet surfing) will cost you when it’s time to give leadership an update on the Urgent and Important tasks you are responsible for. It can also be a clue to a few things you want to check in on:
- Are you avoiding something important, or no longer care or value what is important in your particular role or place in life?
- Are you lacking confidence in your ability to accomplish Urgent and Important tasks?
- Is your hesitation a signal that something deeper is going on and needs your attention?
People and organizations depend on us to do our job well. Our hesitation or avoidance can easily be misunderstood as a lack of commitment to our job, which can turn into a conversation you’d rather not have. Listen to your thoughts and feelings when you’re avoiding or hesitating, and be honest about what’s going on. Talk with a trusted colleague, your manager, or contact me for career coaching or counseling.
Assess How You Spend Time Now—Plan To Spend it Better
As you gear up for an even more productive and fulfilling year, now is a good time to think about your time and what you are doing with it—how you are spending it. Time passes regardless of what you are doing, so spend it well! Not only will you benefit, the people you influence and care about will also benefit.
Consider this: moving towards a daunting task is an opportunity for professional development. Your initiative communicates that your work is important to you, and that you possess the skills and aptitude for success. And asking for help and advice is regarded as being collaborative and a team player, so go ahead and seek the talent and expertise of your colleagues.
Avoid the Emotional Trap
Also, like you, a work and goal-oriented person, I have a tendency to think about what I haven’t done, or haven’t done well enough. This, I learned, is an emotional trap. To avoid it, I end each day with an objective assessment about what I actually did—how I spent my time.
Here, I realize that spending a couple of hours answering emails is important and urgent, because building and maintaining business and industry relationships is what I am hired to do. So I look at my email inbox and voice messages as an opportunity, and an affirmation that I’m doing a good job. This work will always be in my Important and Urgent box.
Also, don’t compare your urgent and important work to someone else’s assessment of what is urgent and important. Embrace and enjoy doing your important work!
Thank you President Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, for inspiring us to value our time and think carefully on how we spend it.
Mary Rose Tichar is Founder and Director of InsideOut Career Direction.
She serves experienced professionals seeking to better integrate personal talents and strengths with their work or career.
Contact Mary Rose at 216.409.7875 or use this contact form.
