Of course, your team should have some scheduled time wasters, for bonding and relaxation, but if any of these tasks become a regular part of your routine, then it's time to put them in check.īy putting all of your daily/weekly/monthly tasks into the Eisenhower Matrix, you'll be able to visualize which quadrant you're spending the most time in - chances are, it’s the quadrant with the longest to-do list! From here, you can begin balancing the quadrants and, in effect, your time. Though the items in this category aren't important, listing them out is.īy listing them out, you can start to realize where the wasted time in your project is going and take steps to reduce unproductive behavior. These are mindless, time-consuming tasks that don't amount to any measurable progress. You can consider these productivity killers. This category is aptly named the 'eliminate' category because it's where you put all of the tasks and routines that you want to eliminate from your workflow. Complete Important and not urgent tasks while you still have plenty of time, to avoid panic or burnout later on. This happens when you neglect the tasks in this category for so long that they become a pressing need. You do need to keep on top of this quadrant, so that no task that once was Important and not urgent suddenly needs to be promoted to important and urgent. This quadrant is also known as the 'decide' quadrant, because it's filled with tasks that you can decide to do when you're ready.īut hold up. These tasks have to be completed by the end of the project, but don't need to take precedence over other things on your to-do list. This might include jobs like coming up with a slogan, designing a logo, writing a blog post, sorting your expenses, etc. These are typically long-term tasks that you work on as soon as all of your urgent tasks have been addressed. The third quadrant (sometimes the second, depending on how you structure your own Eisenhower Matrix) is for tasks that are critical to your productivity but are free of a hard deadline. For this reason, this quadrant is also known as the 'delegate' quadrant, as it's the quadrant you would delegate to an employee or assistant if possible. These tasks are urgent - since you don't want to keep clients and customers waiting - but not necessarily important, or critical, to your productivity. It may seem counterintuitive to consider a task 'urgent' and 'not important' at the same time, but it’s within this unexpected thinking that the matrix’s strength really lies.įor example, a significant part of your time may be spent responding to emails or customer feedback. It's for tasks that require immediate attention but aren't necessarily very productive. This is the second quadrant, sometimes ranked as the third quadrant. If you find yourself or your team in this position, look for tasks in this quadrant that can be moved to not important and urgent or important and not urgent.

Keeping this section of your quadrant too full will result in undue amounts of stress and, eventually, burnout.

As you'll see through using the Eisenhower Matrix, the theme is balancing the four quadrants for maximum productivity. Though this is important (per the title of this quadrant), it's equally important that you avoid working exclusively out of this quadrant.

Sometimes called the 'do' quadrant, this is where you may spend a great amount of your working day focusing on your most important and stressful jobs. This is the highest priority quadrant, where you'll put tasks that deserve the majority of your attention.

Priority quadrant matrix