Matters are urgent and important. Setting priorities is half the battle

Since the thirty-fourth President of the United States, like any head of state, was a very busy man, he developed his own methodology for setting priorities in the process of getting things done. He created the so-called Eisenhower Matrix, which allows a person to concentrate on the most important matters, while ignoring minor tasks that are not useful.

The Eisenhower Priority Matrix is a table consisting of four quadrants. Moreover, any matter can be entered into it depending on two parameters: urgency and importance.

Quadrant “A” contains things that are especially important and require urgent implementation. Quadrant “B” includes non-urgent tasks, the completion of which is of fairly high importance. Quadrant “C” contains tasks that are not particularly important for the performer, but must be completed immediately. Things that are in the last quadrant “D” do not require quick action and they cannot be considered important.

In order to understand the whole essence of such a tool as the Eisenhower matrix, it is worth considering each of the quadrants in more detail. Otherwise, the effectiveness of its use will be reduced to zero.

Quadrant A: important and urgent matters

A matrix in which this quadrant is empty can be considered ideal, since the importance and urgency of the matter implies a situation close to an emergency. What’s interesting is that important tasks become urgent the reason for our laziness and procrastination. It goes without saying that each of us periodically faces similar situations. However, it is constantly impossible to work and develop in such conditions.

For this reason, it makes sense to prevent cases from other quadrants from entering the “A” quadrant. Practice shows that it is much easier to eliminate possible troubles than to deal with the consequences of those that have already occurred.

Cases that should be placed in the “A” quadrant include the following:

Tasks, failure to complete at this moment will cause trouble;
Matters related to our well-being and health;
Tasks that, if not completed, will move you away from your predetermined goal.

Examples of such cases include the following:

Completion of a project that is due for delivery soon;
Unscheduled visit to the doctor;
An important call to a business partner or client;
Necessary rest for a reason chronic fatigue or occurrence professional burnout syndrome;
Call a plumber to repair a leaking pipe.

It is worth noting that some matters from the “A” quadrant should definitely be delegated if they do not need your direct participation.

Quadrant B: important and non-urgent matters

Worth paying Special attention for planned cases from this sector. Practice shows that purposeful and methodical implementation of tasks from the “B” quadrant demonstrates good returns in the future. Those who pay enough attention to these matters have a much greater chance of success.

Since tasks in the “B” quadrant are not urgent, a person has the opportunity to complete them as efficiently as possible. At the same time, you need to take into account that if you do not complete certain tasks from this sector on time, there is a chance that they will migrate to the “A” quadrant. Your main task is to prevent such an outcome.

Examples of cases from sector “B” include the following:

Development of a plan for a new project;
Analysis of available results;
Preventive actions;
Establishing contacts and relationships;
Identification of additional prospects and development of alternative projects.

Quadrant C: unimportant and urgent matters

Often, completing tasks from this sector only moves a person away from the intended goal. In most cases, these things prevent us from fully concentrating on what is really important to us.

The main mistake of many who start using the Eisenhower matrix is the incorrect classification of cases. Do not confuse tasks from the “A” quadrant with unimportant ones, but urgent matters. For example, your manager gives you instructions that have nothing to do with your job responsibilities. At the same time, he demands to complete the task as quickly as possible (Read - “ How to refuse your boss correctly"). In this case, it is important not to classify this case as sector “A”. This task does not bring you any closer to your goals.

It is worth constantly remembering your initial tasks. Try not to distract your attention on unimportant matters.

The following cases have a good chance of falling into the “C” quadrant:

Unscheduled urgent meetings;
Sudden troubles in the form of guests who require your attention;
Unplanned cleaning or eliminating the negative consequences of your carelessness;
Any other tasks that move you away from your original goal.

Quadrant D: unimportant and non-urgent matters

Failure to complete tasks from this sector will in most cases work to your advantage. However, they can be quite easy and interesting. For this reason, you should not completely get rid of them.

If you still do not have the opportunity to cross out all the tasks from this sector, start completing them at the very last place, while strictly limiting the time you allocate to them.

The following tasks can be safely included in sector “D”:

Chronophages and time sinks;
Useless telephone conversations;
Recreational activities.

The Eisenhower Matrix is a great chance to get a significant additional resource in the form of freed up time. This tool will allow you to quickly achieve your goals.

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Yuri Okunev School

Greetings to all readers and subscribers! Yuri Okunev is with you.

Have you ever thought about how wisely you plan and spend your time? Do you know the feeling of wasting days, weeks, or even months in vain?

If yes, then the Eisenhower Matrix as a tool for setting priorities is a must-learn topic for you. Without it, you will be scattered about all sorts of little things, forgetting about the really important things.

If you have not yet encountered the problem of time management, then you still need a matrix, because it will help you become even more successful.

The Matrix was developed by the 34th President of the United States, Dwight David Eisenhower.

Since the post of head of state involved an incredible number of daily tasks, the politician decided to create a universal scheme that would help him classify and sort them.

The essence of the method is to analyze current affairs, tasks and determine which of them are the most significant and urgent. The problem is that we cannot always correctly determine what is really important for our life and business. Only by learning highly effective planning will we embark on the path of success, self-realization and harmony.

Axes and quadrants

The matrix is formed by two axes. Vertical means importance, and horizontal means urgency of the task. As a result, four quadrants are distinguished.

Top right. Things are urgent and important.

Tasks fall here if something unexpected has happened, and you have to deal with unexpected matters. Or due to illiterate time management, when tasks not resolved on time move from the status of “important, but not urgent” to the status of “cannot be delayed any longer.” The exception is health and safety issues, which must always be a priority.

The key principle of the matrix is that everything possible must be done to ensure that there are no entries at all in a given quadrant. This will indicate that everything or almost everything is under your control. Only in this case can we talk about outstanding business qualities, the ability to properly manage time and set priorities.

Top left. Things are not very urgent, but important.

This is the main sector. It should contain the most significant issues for you and/or your company. By focusing on this quadrant, you will confidently move towards your dreams and live a life full of events and accomplishments.

If you procrastinate on solving the issues in the upper left quadrant, you will soon notice that the list of tasks from it smoothly creeps into the previous upper left sector. That is, the emergency begins. To prevent this from happening, you need to be able to delegate issues to other people!

This includes meaningful daily tasks that will help you avoid problems in the future. For example, this is marketing planning, rebranding, personnel and financial issues, as well as sports and health care, helping loved ones, installing an alarm system in an apartment, property insurance, etc.

Bottom right. Things are urgent, but not too important.

It contains questions that distract us with their urgency from much more important activities. For example, the need to help a relative plant potatoes, a friend’s request to pick him up from the airport, repairs household appliances, Birthday of not the closest and most devoted comrade, etc.

Spraying yourself on all this, you begin to devote less attention and time to issues from the previous quadrants. As a result, your interests, needs and aspirations suffer. Moreover, there is a high probability that you will begin to move things from this sector to the “urgent and important” sector. This is why it is necessary to be meticulous in setting priorities.

Bottom right. Things are not urgent and unimportant.

IN Everyday life There are a lot of such things for any person. Like a swamp, they suck you in completely.

This category includes various household chores, enjoyable activities for the soul, and minor organizational issues that you can do when you are truly free without harming yourself or your company. Calling a friend, correspondence on social networks, searching for tours for your next vacation, going to a beauty salon, replacing a couple of pictures on the website - you spend your attention, energy, time, etc. on all this.

All tasks falling into this quadrant should be completed only after issues from all other sectors have been resolved.

It is noteworthy that the matrix was actively used by the famous American specialist in highly effective planning, Stephen Covey. Taking the ex-president’s diagram as a basis, he supplemented it with his own thoughts, explanations and advice. In particular, he called the first sector a crisis sector, the second - a quality square, the third - the threshold of a crisis, and the fourth - degradation.

On the one hand, the priority matrix is extremely logical, understandable and simple. But as soon as you start classifying tasks, problems immediately arise. How to understand what is simply important and what is critically important? What needs to be done right now, and what can wait? The following technique will help with this.

"Cartesian coordinates"

It is called so because it is still based on the system of intersecting axes, which was once created by the famous mathematician Rene Descartes. The Eisenhower matrix and Cartesian squares have the same appearance, however the content is different. Each quadrant has a question assigned to it.

Upper left sector. What will I gain if I don't do this?
Upper right sector. What will I gain if I do this?
Lower left sector. What will I lose if I don't do this?
Lower right sector. What will I lose if I do this?

How to use the Eisenhower Matrix

I think there is no need to discuss the need to use a method for prioritizing between business and household tasks. “Could it be useful somewhere else?” - you ask. The answer is yes, it will be useful wherever you need to organize something. Eg:

Personal life.

Finding a doctor for your brother is urgent and important. Making peace with your spouse is not urgent, but it is important. Buying a birthday present for your second cousin is urgent, but not important. Sending a link to a funny video to a friend on social networks is not at all urgent and unimportant.

Cleaning closets and pantries at home.

In the first quadrant there may be things that you really need and may need literally tomorrow. In the second - those that are very necessary, but not right now. In the third are those that will be needed in the near future, but then they can be put away. In the fourth - what can be postponed until next season / given to people in need.

Taking care of your health.

Do you want to overcome a harmful chronic disease or recover after surgery? Or maybe you just want to improve your overall well-being and get your body in order? To do this, you need to pay attention to a large number of things - nutrition, training, rest, preventive and medicines, physiotherapy, etc. Moreover, not all methods can and should be combined.

Distribute tasks into quadrants to create a competent recovery strategy and outline an accurate plan of action.

**
As always, I wish you success in your struggle for your goals and a happy successful life. Even more interesting and 300% useful information you will find in my . Unique author's developments, in-depth theoretical information and a large number of practical (!) training.

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That's all. Until new publications. Subscribe to the news so you don't miss anything important. Sincerely, your Yuri Okunev.

Suppose you thoughtfully approached the formulation of the goal, overcame internal resistance in the form of fear and procrastination, and found excellent motivation to achieve results. You are active and full of energy! However, after some time you are surprised to notice that, having worked honestly and persistently for the planned 8 - 12 hours, you cannot accurately determine

what of what was planned has already been done;
what intermediate result was obtained;
how much closer you are to achieving the goal you set for yourself.

The picture turns out to be quite depressing: your day is full of worries, you are always busy with something, but the result is not getting closer. Instead of being satisfied that you managed to go a few more steps towards your goal, you only feel tired and disappointed.

"The Problem of Goal Setting"

In time management, this phenomenon is called “goal-setting problems.” When faced with it, you begin to feel famous hero ancient Greek myth - Sisyphus, who is doomed day after day to roll a huge boulder to the top of the mountain, falling down the moment the goal is achieved. Such an unliftable boulder in your case is a heap of daily tasks, the volume of which does not decrease, no matter how much effort you make.

Set your priorities

Although the problem you are facing is truly serious and large-scale, it is quite possible to solve it. But where to start? First, before you start acting, you need to figure out what exactly you want to achieve at this stage and rank the tasks depending on their priority.

Don't start working on a task before you know exactly what your goal is and how far it will take you.

Of course, there is a whole category of tasks that can be performed chaotically, according to the “discovered and done” principle. In its own way, this is even useful: such activity creates a certain mood and helps you get involved in your main work without any problems. Such tasks include, for example, household routine: washing the dishes, wiping the dust, sweeping the floor, etc. The list of such daily routine tasks is small, and the advantage of doing them is that you almost instantly see the result of your efforts and After completion, you experience not only a feeling of satisfaction from the work done, but also quite tangible physical comfort.

However, when it comes to those tasks that need to be solved while working on a large-scale project, the to-do list can become almost dimensionless. A chaotic strategy will not work here - after all, you are limited in time to complete the entire project. This means that there is a great risk when solving a lot of minor issues and simply not having time to do something really important to achieve the final goal. So before you jump into everything at once, take a few minutes to think.

Rank current tasks

Thinking through your actions is a good idea, but you want to do it not only effectively, but also quickly. Suitable for this purpose known method, which is actively used in time management. It is known as the Eisenhower matrix. Several sources offer several various ways using this method. It seems to us that the simplest and most rational is the one that will be discussed below. It has proven itself to be a convenient tool for practical application, so we are happy to share it with you.

The Matrix is named after the 34th President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, a former army general. He is credited with the invention this method, but, most likely, Eisenhower’s merit lies in the fact that at one time he expressed the thought: “Not all urgent matters are important, and not all important matters are urgent.” The quote gained popularity and, of course, formed the basis of the idea of the matrix.

Using the Eisenhower Matrix, you can quickly sort even a fairly long to-do list. To do this, write down your current tasks (best using the GTD technique), and then evaluate each of them according to just two criteria:

Is it important? (Not really)
Is it urgent? (Not really)

As a result, all of your list items, depending on their degree of importance/urgency, can be placed in one of the 4 quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix, which looks like this:

It is worth noting that the matrix in various systems time management has different names, as well as the interpretation of the quadrants may vary slightly among different authors. So, Stephen Covey, author of the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” calls it the Urgency\Importance matrix. Detailed recommendations on its use he gives in his work. In other sources, this method is called a visual version of the “4D Rules,” which we will talk about a little later.

How to work with quadrants

The Eisenhower Matrix not only has many variations of names, but also many interpretations of how to deal with the tasks placed in each of the quadrants. We propose to dwell in more detail on two interpretations, the first of which seems more convenient for everyday use.

Method Do-Plan-Delegate-Eliminate

Actually, the name of this method already contains information about how to deal with the tasks that you placed in each of the 4 quadrants. Let's look at this in a little more detail.

Quadrant 1: Urgent and Important

These are matters that require immediate action, otherwise something irreparable will happen: a fire, a bug that could block the release, or something similar. The ideal option is when this quadrant remains empty. As a last resort, you can put tasks from quadrant No. 2 into it if unforeseen circumstances suddenly require their urgent solution.

Quadrant 2: Important but not urgent

This is the quadrant for the most productive tasks. There is no need to solve them right now, so each one can be intelligently planned and efficiently implemented. By working on the implementation of tasks from the second quadrant, you will end up with the same productivity, the lack of which drove you to despair.

To further optimize work within this quadrant, you can rank the tasks placed in it according to the same importance/urgency principle. This way, you can first pay attention to more urgent and important (not urgent!) tasks, and then calmly move on to solving less urgent and important (but still significant for achieving the goal) issues.

Quadrant 3: Not important, but urgent

Things from this quadrant are the very distractions that disrupt the smooth flow of the work process and interfere with the achievement of the final goal. These are long telephone conversations, fruitless discussions that have no final goal, the need to get distracted to help one of your colleagues, etc. It is recommended, if possible, to delegate such matters to someone who can handle them for you. main idea– do not perform them yourself. You can delegate them, or refuse to perform them altogether.

Quadrant 4: Not important or urgent

You can simply forget about matters that end up in this quadrant. As a rule, these are some of your momentary desires that have nothing to do with your goals. If such a quadrant turns out to be empty, this is an ideal option. But even if there are some tasks in it that you would still like to complete, put off solving this issue for an indefinitely long period of time and return to them after the main goal is achieved, but for now it’s just not worth wasting your energy on them and time.

Rule "4D"

To be fair, it must be said that the “4D” rule in various interpretations does not necessarily describe the quadrants of the matrix we are talking about. But one of them is quite consistent with their descriptions given above, and it can be used when working with quadrants:

Do, Delegate, Defer, or Dump (Do (urgently), Delegate (to others), Postpone (temporarily), Abandon).
Do, Decide, Delegate, Delete (Do (now), Decide (in what order to do), Instruct, Delete).

The main advantage of the described method is that it allows you to quickly rank any number of tasks. In addition, the matrix

Helps visually represent the volume of planned tasks and the degree of their importance/urgency. This way, you get the opportunity to use your time effectively.
With its help, you can easily divide tasks into groups based on just 2 simple criteria. If not for this condition, then distributing tasks across quadrants would be much more difficult.

Check the effectiveness of the matrix in practice

You can use the Eisenhower Matrix not only to determine which tasks bring you closer to the intended result, and which ones create obstacles on the way to your goal. You can also use this method to assess how effective you are overall. So, if all your tasks are placed in the second quadrant, we can say that you have reached maximum efficiency.

In addition, dividing tasks into quadrants allows you to clearly determine where exactly the work goes most of of your time and energy, and will also tell you how to improve your personal performance. For example, seriously think about delegating most tasks to other team members or finally stop wasting time and energy on things that find a place in quadrant No. 4.

The application of the Eisenhower matrix method can be optimized using applications that already exist in various options: mobile, web and desktop versions. And in order to avoid making mistakes in setting goals and determine rational ways to achieve them, use the service SmartProgress. With his help by different people More than 35,000 goals have already been realized. Have you defined your goal?

November 6, 2016

Greetings! Have you ever scolded yourself in the evening for the fact that you managed to accomplish offensively little during the day? Were you constantly busy, but truly important and urgent matters gradually “crept” to tomorrow?

Personally, I encountered this problem regularly. By the evening I was tired as a dog, and in fact there were mountains of undone work, the kitchen was a mess and the rent had not been paid on time.
I was terribly angry, but for some reason I continued to often waste time on nonsense, finishing all important tasks hastily and at the last moment (and, as a rule, late at night).

All this disgrace continued for quite a long time. Until I started using a simple, convenient and visual tool. In my opinion, this is one of the most effective ways Clear your brain once and for all. And finally put things in order.

Meet the Eisenhower Matrix as a priority setting tool.

The Matrix was invented by the thirty-fourth President of the United States, Dwight David Eisenhower (he served as President from 1953 to 1961).

The politician developed a universal scheme that helped him classify and sort a bunch of daily tasks. I think the US President had plenty of them. At one point, Eisenhower made a paradoxical conclusion:

Urgent things are rarely important, and important things are rarely urgent

By the way, the Eisenhower matrix is highly recommended by my beloved Stephen Covey in the book “The main focus is on the main things”. I recommend downloading and studying.

The essence of the Eisenhower matrix

Majority problem modern people– inability to prioritize when planning. We prefer to do what we like first, leaving unpleasant but important things for later. The result is time pressure, stress and... syndrome.

The technology from the president instantly puts everything into order.

It looks like four quadrants with two axes. The matrix is divided vertically by urgency (“urgent” and “not urgent”), and vertically by importance (“important” and “not important”).
At the same time, the author of the theory classifies as “urgent” what cannot be postponed. And the “important” ones are tasks on the solution of which a full-fledged, successful and emotional life. And as my experience shows, all everyday life can be attributed to one of the quadrants.

Quadrant A. Important and urgent matters

Proper planning always leaves this box empty. Things recorded in sector A are a sign of disorganization and incorrect prioritization. “Important and urgent” means force majeure, time pressure and emergency.

Example of cases from sector A:

Cramming a subject on the last night before the exam
Calling a plumber due to a burst pipe
Urgent call to a client who sent money to the wrong details
Acute toothache and an urgent visit to the dentist

Moreover, most of this entire list could have been avoided. Start cramming a little every day a week before the exam. Or visit the dentist every six months for preventive examination. Do you agree?

Quadrant B. Important but not urgent matters

The highest priority and promising tasks are entered into sector B - this is our most valuable square. It is precisely these things that, ideally, should consist of the “To Do” list for the day. Statistically, those who focus on the B quadrant achieve best results and at the same time lives a rich and happy life.

The lack of urgency allows you to solve problems thoughtfully and constructively. But if you relax, a lot of things from zone B will quickly “crawl” into sector A.

Example of tasks from sector B:

Fill out utility bills
Buy groceries for the week
Write a business trip report
Go to the gym for a workout
Make an appointment with a dentist
Take a photo for your garage pass

Quadrant C. Urgent but not important tasks

90% of such tasks distract from achieving important goals, reduce efficiency and interfere with concentration. But you still need to do them (or not – it’s up to you to decide).

Example of tasks from sector C:

Happy birthday to a distant and very talkative relative
Go to an alumni meeting (you don’t want to go, but it’s inconvenient to refuse)
Instantly deliver papers to the other end of town at the request of a colleague

The contents from sector C should either not be done at all, or they should be started after fully working through the tasks from list B.

Quadrant D. Not urgent or important matters

D should only contain things that do not affect our quality of life. Have you already guessed what we're talking about? Well, of course, about “time wasters”: computer games, reading comments on social networks, talking “about nothing” on the phone, aimless shopping, doing crossword puzzles. Things from the D-zone should only be completed after all other categories are empty!

Start your day by reminding yourself of your main long-term goal. This is something like a beacon to which you need to focus when filling out the Eisenhower matrix. For example, the goal: “in five years.” And evaluate each point in the matrix from the position: “Will completing this task help me achieve my goal or not?”
If you don't like the idea of drawing squares every day, you can simply mark things with the letters A, B, C and D in your diary
Perform all current tasks exactly in the sequence in which they are listed above: A, B, C and D. Only then will you be able to keep up with everything and avoid “blockages” and “rush jobs”. At the right approach– there will even be time for nonsense from quadrant D
Do not use things from the fourth sector to relax while working! Practice shows that social networks and “shooting games” are serious distractions and do not allow you to fully relax

There was only one thing I didn't like about the Eisenhower Matrix important point: I didn't know how to prioritize tasks from different areas. Everything about the work is more or less clear (although there are some nuances). But life is not limited to “work feats”: there is also health, personal development, family and communication with friends.

In short, my problem could be formulated as follows: “What’s more important is to learn 10 new English words or do 10 abdominal exercises?

For myself, I solved the problem as follows. He highlighted all the important areas of life: work, health, personal development, communications, household affairs. You can add something else to this list: self-care (for girls), study (for students) or spiritual practices (for fans of esotericism).

All that remains is to ensure that matters from each area are included in the matrix.

This is what my sector B looks like:

Finalize the second part of the project for the customer (“work”)
3 km in the pool (“health”)
Take 2 video lessons on learning business English (“personal development”)
Buy groceries and cook dinner (“hozdela”)
Meet with a former classmate who came to town for one day (“communications”). By the way, this item can be safely placed in sector C “On, but not important”

What do I classify as sector D? Watching your favorite TV series, for example, or having a beer with friends at a sports bar.

It is clear that this is a very simplified example and the number of points in sector B is much greater. But this approach allows you to live full life, and not “burn at work” for days. Tested for yourself!

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The Eisenhower Matrix is a way to properly plan your time and effort, which has found the most wide application throughout the civilized world. It is based on the fact that the tasks necessary for execution are entered into a certain table, laid out in a special way. They may concern the professional, family or economic sphere. When studying them in this context, it becomes clear what you need to pay attention to first.

The Eisenhower Matrix, as a tool for setting life priorities, is very important for modern man. Since he is faced with many important tasks at once in a short unit of time, he needs to be able to correctly determine which of them should be taken on first.

The essence of the prioritization method

From the very beginning, all tasks for a person are equal, and only studying them using the Eisenhower Matrix makes it possible to identify the most important ones. Such a schedule is important so as not to waste time on non-urgent tasks. This is what makes it possible to become luckier and more successful.

If you fully master the principle of using a table, then the issue of intervals between tasks that arise during the day will be resolved by itself.

If there is a problem in the workplace great amount matters that need to be solved almost simultaneously, then you should learn to use this method perfectly. If what the boss wants, what the clients need and the financial components are distributed in special sections of the table, then the manager will never experience stress.

The principle of the Eisenhower Matrix makes it possible to create your work schedule in such a way that the tasks and instructions of your superiors will not overlap each other. All problems are distributed depending on their real significance for the person himself and for the temporary factor. Therefore, a special cell is provided for each of them.

The graph consists of four compartments, delimited by two axes of importance and urgency. All necessary tasks are entered into them and analyzed using available tools. This method is not difficult, because from such a perspective it very quickly becomes clear which priorities are top priority.

The main goals of creating the Matrix were:

selection of main ones;
setting life goals;
reducing time for unnecessary tasks;
planning your work schedule;
distribution of cases according to their urgency;
fixation on the main thing;
the ability to separate the essential from the secondary;
meeting the deadline;
discipline;
saving time;
no rush;
rationalization of your day;
implementation of plans, etc.

The matrix includes four squares where data is entered. It involves completing some business, task or long-term goal. It is divided into components: A, which contains important and urgent tasks. B includes truly important items, but not urgent ones that must be postponed. WITH implies urgent things, but not too important. In principle, they can be neglected. D considers goals that are neither important nor urgent. They are not really needed at all.

One should not, of course, forget about leisure time to take a break from the heap of things to do. But it also needs to be distributed over the course of a day so that it turns into a pleasant pastime, and not a nervous tension. If you prioritize correctly, you will have the opportunity for walks, shopping, communication with loved ones, and cultural events.

General principle of the structure of the Eisenhower Matrix

To begin with, you should choose a specific case and try to analyze it so that it fits exactly into a certain column of the table.

It could be anything:

visiting the dentist;
playing sports;
cosmetic procedures;
cooking gourmet dish;
date;
training or meeting with management;
music lesson for a child;
communication with children;
drawing or dancing, etc.

It is advisable to arrange all the main components in the appropriate segments so that they all remain in the plans, but will take their rightful place in the prioritization. You can distribute your efforts in their implementation accordingly.

If we look at everything in more detail, we get this option.

1 – A. Filled in last, when less important matters have already been entered into other areas. Such a column should contain the most important professional tasks; hasty implementation of goals that will not be fulfilled if the time factor is not taken into account; basic goals; something that will jeopardize vital components; Problems, threatening the condition health, your own or someone else's.

2 – B. This includes what are daily tasks. If they are not fulfilled, then the effectiveness general activities will decrease significantly. Moreover, serious difficulties may arise, as a result of which all other matters will have to be postponed. Important goals are completed first, followed by urgent ones. They relate to health, professional goals and financial needs.

3 – C. This area includes things that need to be done urgently, but not necessarily right now. If you postpone the implementation of such plans for a while, then circumstances may even improve or additional data will become clearer. There are more important and urgent goals at this moment. If you neglect them, then everything else will be of little importance.

4 – D. This square, like A, is what remains after the other cells are filled. Things that are not too important are included here, which are allowed not to be done at all or done last. If you tackle them from the very beginning, you will end up with a logjam of urgent problems.

Application of the Eisenhower Matrix in life

In order to understand exactly how to use the Matrix, you should analyze the main components human life.

Professional matters. They are included in the most urgent and important goals. Naturally, they are entered into square A. It is necessary to think about whether it is capable of this moment something to become more important, such as helping someone emergency care. If not, then they are executed first. These include basic tasks that cannot be postponed until later, since such neglect can lead to negative consequences. If you want to do everything, then first you need to put all the components into this square. It should be almost completely filled labor responsibilities. However, they do not overlap each other, but are built in strict chronological order from the truly important matters on which the company’s activities depend, to non-urgent orders from management.
Family relationships. They are entered into B. This thing is very important, but until the work is done, there is no need to do it. Moreover, it is unclear how much time it can take. Therefore such important priorities should be slightly shifted in time. However, they cannot be neglected. Personal life is one of the most important areas of human existence. Therefore, it is better to postpone something less urgent for later, but try to find mutual language with my spouse. An improved mood will allow you to cope with other matters much faster and more efficiently.
Housekeeping. It should be listed in point C. Such things can be done by a husband, children or mother-in-law. This is certainly a worthwhile endeavor, but devoting time to it to the neglect of everything else is hardly advisable. You can do it yourself, but as a last resort. If there is absolutely nothing to eat in the house, then your loved ones will go to a cafe or cook something themselves. It is best to plan such things in advance or, in extreme cases, abandon them altogether. In this case, they distract from truly urgent goals and become a big hindrance if they are put in first place. They will not only take up a lot of time, but will make you nervous and constantly take time off from the process. The prepared delicacy will end in a reprimand from the manager or a serious quarrel with loved ones. Moreover, a woman risks having a breakdown from increased stress. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to plan very clearly in cases of this category.
Friendly connections are safely entered in D. If you can’t chat with your friend on the phone, nothing bad will happen. In addition, there will be time for really important things. There is no need to think that these are absolutely non-urgent and unimportant matters. They can bring great benefit and even pleasure if done in due time. Friendship is very valuable, but it should not come at the expense of work or family.

Using the Eisenhower Matrix, you can always manage to complete everything on time.

It is used all over the world as a basic tool for setting priorities. It is used in management, and in art, and in family life, and in health matters. The schedule allows you to distribute time periods so accurately that there is time for all urgent matters, and at the end of the day the person does not look exhausted and exhausted.

If you correctly fill out all the squares of the Eisenhower Matrix, you can not only save a lot of effort, but also become a completely successful person, leaving nothing for later and not disrupting plans.

This method allows you to distribute your life in such a way that there is no room left for stress and thwarted plans. It makes it possible to identify what is most urgent in order to free up time for less urgent matters.