Eisenhower square or planning principles. The Eisenhower matrix and its application in everyday life

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“Urgent things are usually not the most important, and important things are not the most urgent.” D. Eisenhower.

Time trouble. Lack of time. I can't do anything. Words familiar to many. We spend a lot of time and effort on putting out “fires”, fighting “turnover”, but it keeps piling up and piling up, and important things, moving us forward so they are not done.

Every person has 24 hours in a day. But everyone uses them differently.
Some people find time for work, family, and hobbies.
Others are drowning in the turnover, grasping at everything and not keeping up anywhere.

Why do some succeed and others don't? How to succeed?

The answer is simple - planning and prioritization. These are the most important tools to achieve the goal. With proper planning, the efficiency of activities increases many times over.

A person who wants to achieve a lot and do a lot must certainly be able to competently to plan and prioritize.

A wonderful way of planning is called eisenhower square or the Eisenhower matrix.

Dwight Eisenhower is an American statesman and military figure, President of the United States. He was distinguished by good organizational skills, and used to plan his time a method later named after him - the Eisenhower square or the Eisenhower matrix.

The essence of this method is that all the tasks planned for the day are divided into four squares:

1) square of non-urgent/important cases;

2) square of urgent/important cases;

3) square of urgent / unimportant cases;

4) square of non-urgent / unimportant cases.

Method eisenhower square is to prioritize in order of importance and urgency for each day.

How to use Eisenhower square?

Of course, first of all, you need to determine your priorities, your goals. Categorize cases:
determine what is important / urgent for you, what is important / not urgent, then unimportant / urgent, and what is not important / not urgent.
Understand for yourself what you will do first, what second, and what you will not do at all.

If you're having trouble prioritizing your life, you can use mine to solve that problem.

1. The secret to successful planning and effective goal achievement is to get things done in the first quadrant first. not urgent but important deeds that move a person forward and secure his future.

2. It is necessary to strive to minimize the number of cases from the second square of urgent and important cases. As a rule, so-called "fires" get here, which must be extinguished and which take a lot of strength and nerves.

3. Things from the third square of urgent but unimportant things are best to be abandoned or also reduced to a minimum.

4. Finally, things from the fourth square of non-urgent and unimportant cases are best left to entrust to other people, services or automated services.

I have been using the Eisenhower square for 2 months now and I note with satisfaction that in recent times I calmly and methodically deal with mostly important but non-urgent tasks that systematically move me towards my goals. And all sorts of turnover and hassle almost disappeared.

I want as many people as possible to be able to competently plan their affairs and achieve their goals.

So I decided and prepared a PDF file with Eisenhower square, which you just have to download, print and use.

You can download Eisenhower's diary.

You can download Eisenhower's diary in black and white (it's more economical to print).

You can use the Eisenhower square for both daily, weekly and even monthly planning. Try, experiment. Good luck to you in all your endeavors and deeds!

It is very easy to get confused in the cycle of life events. Children are taught to distribute their time correctly by adults, who often put everything off until later. As a rule, this “later” never comes. All planned cases are smoothly pushed aside by others and in the end turn into one continuous lump of unresolved tasks.

The problem most often lies not in the number of cases, but in an irrationally drawn up schedule. People do not pay due attention to planning their activities. But by spending quite a bit of personal time learning the basics of time management, you can save a lot in the future. Then in life there will be a place not only for eternal problems, but also for yourself and your family. One of the simplest and most effective planning techniques is the Eisenhower principle.

What is the essence of technology?

The principle of the Eisenhower matrix is the competent distribution of tasks depending on the degree of their significance. It helps to break down the entire list of tasks into important and not important, urgent and not very important. Using the matrix, you can determine the period of time that will be needed to solve the problem, because something requires more attention, and some things are not worth five minutes spent on them.

To achieve success, you need to follow a certain algorithm. The order of necessary actions depends on the priority of tasks. As a rule, various factors prevent you from concentrating on one goal: personal problems, people around you, habits, and so on. The Eisenhower method can help to get rid of weaknesses and focus only on useful actions.

How did this principle come about, who formed it?

The thirty-fourth President of the United States of America, Dwight David Eisenhower, substantiated the described principle of time management. The politician could not leave a single task unsolved, so he tried to make his schedule as rational and optimized as possible. As a result, Eisenhower transformed all tasks into a matrix.

Today, the president's method is used by office workers, managers, and senior leaders. This suggests that this method of prioritization is indeed effective and relevant.

What is the Dwight Eisenhower Matrix?

The Eisenhower square (or principles is based on the construction of a matrix. The basis of the matrix is the axis of importance (abscissa) and the axis of urgency (ordinate). Their mutual intersection gives four squares, each of which is filled with tasks, according to their distribution.

So, for starters, it’s worth deciding what is important and what is urgent. Important things have the greatest impact on achieving results, and urgent tasks require immediate completion. In general, a picture is formed that gives a complete picture of the state of affairs.

The matrix will allow you to set the right priorities - what can wait and what will not be delayed.

What is in box A?

The first square, located in the upper left corner, is called square A. The most important and urgent tasks are written in this cell. Ideally, this square should be empty, since a rationally allocated time allows you to avoid having things to do. this kind basically.

Higher priority matters include:

health problems that usually occur at the most inopportune times;
something that can negatively affect the results of operations;
cases, failure to do which may lead to new problems.

Self-control of a person is responsible for the fullness of this square. After all, if new cases appear in cell A every day, the Eisenhower principle will not help. Here you should turn to time management in principle, but first you need to deal with all the cases that will fill square A in the short term.

Despite the highest priority of this square, it is possible to transfer the solution of the problems that fill the cell to someone else. But this is only if this is possible, and things do not necessarily require personal participation.

What tasks does square B involve?

This part of the matrix is filled with daily activities. As a rule, everything that deserves the most attention is included here. These are important but not urgent matters. most of which are associated with the main activity of man. The low urgency of the tasks will allow you not to make sudden decisions, and a constructive and reasonable approach will make it possible to complete all matters more efficiently.

The activities of people who mainly solve problems from quadrant B are more productive. With good work results, such people have enough time for their personal lives, they do not experience constant stress. This square consists of tasks that are of little importance and, perhaps, to some extent everyday, but it is from them that human activity mainly consists.

Tasks from quadrant B have a strong impact on both morale and material condition. These are sports, diet, sleep, educational and work activities - those things that you can’t do without, but they usually pay the least attention, letting a lot go by themselves.

What cases are included in square C?

Square C includes those things that do not bring closer to the cherished goal, but, on the contrary, slow down events, postpone the implementation of really important tasks. Most often they require an urgent investment of time, but they distract and lead astray. Here it is important to always remember the results of your activities and goals and not switch to the secondary.

In this sector, you can safely include household chores and promises made to someone. In general, these matters are not so much important as urgent.

What is included in square D?

For people who do not know how to properly plan their time, things from this square take the most time. These tasks can rather be called not problems, but pleasant worries, which, moreover, do not bring absolutely any rational benefit. The influence of the square D must, if not be excluded, then at least try to reduce.

You should not replace rest with aimless monitoring of social networks, watching TV shows or series, empty chatter on the phone. You can also spend your free time for the benefit of yourself and those around you: family, relatives and friends.

Where is the Dwight Eisenhower principle used?

The described method of task distribution is used not only to rationalize time. Accelerated analysis according to the Eisenhower principle is used, for example, to determine the necessary functions of retail facilities. Product improvement at all stages of the life cycle is called This principle combines economic and technical methods to determine the ratio of product properties with the cost of it. The latter must be logical and payable.

What is the principle of Eisenhower in the FSA, studied by many experts from countries with market economies: France, Germany, Great Britain, USA. As a result, it was found that in order to determine the range of relevant functions of the object, it is important to observe the proportions between their necessity and cost. The Eisenhower principle in the FSA is to analyze the product and distribute its properties into three categories:

Category A. Main or fundamental functions: the direct purpose of the product, for the provision of which it is necessary to spend more money.
Category B. Secondary product features that are related to the main one. The presence of such additions is welcome, but the absence does not affect sales too much.
Category C. Extra features, the absence of which will in no way affect the quality of the product. By avoiding spending on add-ons that are completely unnecessary, you can save a lot.

The practice of applying the Eisenhower principle

It is absolutely not necessary to distribute tasks exactly in the form of a matrix - squared, but at first you can do just that to ensure clarity. It is convenient to convert the standard into several lists or a general plan, where cases from different squares are highlighted in color. So, for example, both urgent and important tasks (square A) can be written in red ink, important but not urgent in green (sector B), unimportant but urgent tasks (square C) in blue, and black - unimportant and non-urgent. At the same time, the degree of importance of a particular case should be assessed not in the mind, but on paper. In this way, the tasks take shape, and their implementation becomes more real.

Why should this method be used?

The principle can help change your life in terms of rationalizing your personal time. Using this method allows you to spend less time on unnecessary tasks and do the most promising things, as well as devote enough time to proper rest, avoiding the so-called time wasters: television, aimless wandering around the expanses of the Web, and the like.

A person who applies the principles of time management in his daily activities is not only more successful than others, according to statistics, but also healthier, as he does not experience constant stress associated with overload and constant deadlines. (the Eisenhower principle or any other) will help optimize your life activities in all areas.

In this article, we will look at what time management is, what its main methods are, and describe in detail an example of the Eisenhower matrix. This matrix is the most common way to allocate time in all spheres of human life.

Eisenhower matrix - time management method

Time management- the ability of a person to correctly allocate his time for the implementation of specific tasks. There are many methods of time management. One of the most popular and common ways to implement time management is the Eisenhower method.

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Dwight David Eisenhower is a famous political and military figure, David was born on October 14, 1890 in Denison (Texas, America). Everyone knows him as the 34th President of America, who stood out for his organizational and mental abilities. This allowed him to achieve great success in life, to become an example for many public people. David believed that the presence and performance of valuable deeds defines a person as a person, contributes to development in all areas and undertakings.

“Since I stopped being president, I have been able to win golf much less often”

Dwight David Eisenhower

As president, David was immersed in a huge number of cases, plans, tasks. He thought about how to clearly and correctly allocate his precious time in order to do everything. Having comprehended all his plans for a certain period, he created a table where he designated his affairs according to their significance and urgency. Later, his method gained particular popularity and became known as the Eisenhower matrix. It looks like this.

A quadrant Important urgent matters

In quadrant Important non-urgent

C quadrant unimportant urgent

D quadrant unimportant non-urgent

The essence of the Eisenhower window is to prioritize activities. A person must divide all his plans according to their significance and urgency, correlate them to a certain category. Now let's take a closer look at the main sectors or quadrants of the matrix. An example of the Eisenhower matrix will be considered a little further in our article.

Quadrant A

This includes important urgent matters that cannot be postponed, as this can lead to negative consequences. With an ideal scenario, the correct distribution of time, this square should be empty. A person must complete important tasks on time so that they do not become urgent.

Quadrant B

There are important non-urgent matters here. With the timely implementation of the plans of this sector, a person accumulates a huge number of valuable urgent cases. The gradual implementation of plans in order of importance helps to put things in order on time, without psychological and physical exhaustion of the body.

Quadrant C

Unimportant urgent things that are not significant at the moment, but they need to be done right now. Perhaps their fulfillment is valuable for someone, but for you they are ordinary without any value.

Quadrant D

Eisenhower referred to this sector unimportant non-urgent tasks that need to be done, but they are not super-important or urgent. Their implementation brings a person, of course, satisfaction, but failure to fulfill them does not threaten with negative consequences.

We will consider these sectors in more detail, describing the example of the Eisenhower matrix.

Goals of the Eisenhower Method

The Eisenhower method has several main goals.

Development of human self-organization. Having seen everything planned for a few days, a person becomes active, connects all his resources to achieve a result, thereby organizing himself without anyone's help.
Qualitative distribution of the tasks of everyday life. Having compiled such a matrix, everyone will be able to see significant things in a specific period of time, will try to complete them so that there is no rush job.
Successful Planning Skills. A table with clearly defined plans helps to allocate a certain amount of time for each task, to calculate this time correctly.

By compiling an example of the Eisenhower matrix, we can analyze the goals of this planning technique in more depth.

Features of highlighting significant tasks with examples

As we have already found out, the Eisenhower matrix consists of four main components, which include our cases in terms of importance and urgency at the moment. Now, with the help of examples, we can figure out what cases can be urgent, and how to determine this ourselves. An example of the Eisenhower matrix will help you fully understand the significant and urgent tasks in everyday life.

Quadrant A (important urgent matters)

As we mentioned, this sector should ideally be empty, a person should have time to do valuable things on time so that they do not become urgent. For example, we can classify an unscheduled operation or an urgent meeting at work as "sector A". Important things need to be done on time, because when they become urgent and valuable, there may be sudden obstacles to their implementation (sharp deterioration in health, various force majeure circumstances). Let's take an exam situation. This is important, but not urgent. If a person postpones preparation until the last day, turning it into an urgent task, then he simply physically does not have time to do everything, his body will become exhausted physically and psychologically.

Quadrant B (important non-urgent matters)

The affairs of this sector can wait, but their failure will lead to negative consequences. Particularly valuable cases are allocated for this in order to complete them on time. These include tasks related to their own health, personal development. For example, if you go to the doctor for a consultation on time, the need for surgery will not arise. Another example, if you learn English on time, you will be able to get a new well-paid position in a short time.

Quadrant S (unimportant urgent matters)

This sector combines tasks that need to be completed at a particular point in time, but they are not of particular importance to you. To determine the importance of plans for yourself, ask yourself the question: “What will happen if I don’t do this task?”. If in the end the case has a negative impact on you, then it is really important. An example of the tasks of this sector can be an insignificant conversation with a colleague or friend, participation in a survey. These things only distract you from important things. For example, if you are busy with a valuable project at work, you may be distracted by some other instructions from your superiors, a call from a friend just to chat. It is imperative to postpone these tasks, focusing on more important things so that it does not become urgent.

Quadrant D (non-important non-urgent tasks)

A person can carry out these plans in his spare time, when there are no assigned important things. They bring a sense of satisfaction with themselves, the work done. For example, you decide to clean up your library, put things in your closet. This also includes computer games, hanging on social networks. These things help you calm down, but you should not put them in the first place, thereby ignoring significant tasks.

Let's try an example to figure out how to identify important urgent tasks for yourself using the Eisenhower matrix. Consider the example of the Eisenhower matrix.

Let's say you have the following tasks for the first time:

fix the stool so that it does not stagger;
see a dentist with toothache;
preparation for tomorrow's working draft;
a call from a colleague with a request to send a report;
unscheduled meeting with the boss;
spend time on social networks;

Now let's try to structure the named tasks according to their importance and urgency. We create our own example of the Eisenhower matrix.

Quadrant A (important urgent) :

preparation for a working project;
unscheduled meeting with the boss.

Quadrant B (important non-urgent) :

visiting a dentist with a toothache;
mastering English language skills for professional development.

Quadrant C (minor urgent) :

a call from a colleague with a request to send a report.

Quadrant D (non-important non-urgent):

fix the stool so that it does not stagger;
spend time on social media.

Thus, having comprehended the value of your upcoming affairs, you can easily deal with the distribution of priorities at this point in time. Do not be too lazy to take the time to work on yourself, to rethink your plans and undertakings, this will help you do more than you think.

“One hour of working on yourself will teach you more than one day of explanations”

Jean Jacques Rousseau

It is worth noting that the technique of time allocation described by us is designed for short-term goals that need to be achieved in the near future. It helps to structure the affairs of everyday life, it is very useful in all spheres of work and life. This technique can be used by both presidents and schoolchildren, since it is understandable to everyone and easy to use.

34 US President Dwight David Eisenhower was a very busy man. In order to manage to get more done in a day, he created his own effective time management tool, which today is called the Eisenhower Matrix or Priority Matrix. What is the essence of the method?

What is the Eisenhower Matrix?

The idea of the Eisenhower matrix is to learn to quickly distinguish between important matters from minor ones and those that do not require attention at all. Eisenhower proposed to divide all current and planned cases into 4 categories according to the principle of urgency and importance. For clarity, he drew a square and divided it into 4 fields. Each of the fields contained a to-do list:

1 field: Important and urgent matters;
2 field: Important, but not very urgent matters;
3rd field: Not important, but urgent matters;
4th field: Not important and not urgent matters.

How to work with the Eisenhower square?

Consider the Eisenhower square in more detail:

Important and urgent matters. What would you put in this category? How many urgent and important things could be written in this square? The trick is that planning according to Eisenhower can only be called effective when the very first square is always clean, without a single entry. If you have a list of tasks that you can attribute to this field of the matrix, it means that something interferes with your productive work: laziness, lack of self-discipline, inability to set priorities correctly, etc. All this leads to rush jobs, which has a bad effect on the mental and physical state of a person.
Important but not very urgent matters. Eisenhower, creating his time management system, was sure that this particular category was the most important. To place a task here in a timely manner and take up its execution means the opportunity to devote as much time as necessary to solving the problem. So, for example, a timely visit to a doctor will prevent a disease, and writing a student's thesis a little ahead of time will leave an opportunity to correct mistakes.
Not very important, but urgent matters. This field of the Esenhower Matrix is intended to place cases here that interfere with effective work and therefore require immediate resolution. For example, fixing a computer breakdown, helping your mother-in-law transport furniture to the country house, etc.
Not urgent, not important. In the matrix of priorities there is also a place for the things that we do daily in order to distract ourselves from work.
These are long phone calls, watching TV shows, friend tapes, writing letters, etc. That is, all those things that are pleasant, but not mandatory. Eisenhower, speaking of priorities, called such activities "time wasters" that negatively affect work productivity.

It will be more convenient to work with the Eisenhower square if:

Arrange the tasks in each field in order of importance, numbering them in Latin letters or numbers. It is worth taking on more urgent and important matters first;
Focus mainly on the things from square 2. If the things from the list of not very urgent, but important, fall into the square of important and urgent things, it's okay. The main thing is that such a movement does not become a trend;
Set long-term goals for yourself and outline the tasks to achieve them step by step. Distribute tasks by squares;
Do not be distracted from the current task by smoking breaks, viewing mail and other things.

Thus, the matrix created by President Eisenhower is an effective time management tool that has been successfully used in practice for more than half a century.

The Eisenhower Matrix as a Prioritization Tool

There is an opinion that this method was used by General Dwight Eisenhower.

He compiled a case classification matrix that he used to organize his time more efficiently, and it helped him succeed in becoming President of the United States.

All cases, according to the Eisenhower matrix, can be divided into four categories according to their importance and urgency.

Let's take a closer look at each of these categories.

A. Important and urgent. Cases in this category must be done immediately. The most appropriate word for them is "hands down".

Tomorrow is the exam, but the tickets have not yet been learned, and one has to hurriedly finish learning what has been put off for a long time for later.

"We must live in such a way that important things do not turn into urgent ones."

B. Important and non-urgent. Cases of this category are the most “offended”, we pay the least attention to them, because they are not urgent! “Time endures,” we think about such matters and put them on the back burner. “The exam is so far away, the whole semester is ahead, you can not think about it yet

about preparation ... Well, there is still a month before the exam, I will have time to learn everything ... Another whole week ahead, there is time ... "And gradually, due to our neglect of the affairs of the category AT they turn into category cases BUT. And now it’s the last night before the exam, and we are frantically trying to remember at least something, and our head is spinning: “Oh, I should have started preparing earlier!” To avoid a similar scenario of events in your life, to the cases of the category AT should be approached as an investment that needs to be made today in order to make a profit tomorrow.

WITH. unimportant and urgent . Tricky things that like to "pretend to be important." They cleverly disguise themselves as deeds of the category BUT, and they often manage to trick us: it is human nature to confuse importance and urgency, which is what category C tasks take advantage of. It is these tasks that create an atmosphere of fuss, bustle and eternal haste, but for some reason this state of affairs is often considered an indicator of active work. But even at the beginning of the 20th century. F. Taylor, a classic of the scientific organization of labor, noted that a well-organized enterprise is one where no one runs anywhere, does not fuss, and all things are done slowly, but on time and with high quality. Look carefully at your personal corporation "I". How are things with you?

D. Unimportant and non-urgent("trash bin"). These types of cases include our time wasters. They are often pleasant and interesting, so we prefer to spend our best hours on them, and then we can’t remember where so much time has gone? It is necessary to “finance” such cases according to the residual principle, otherwise they will “eat up” the entire budget of our time. If we follow this principle, they may well turn from absorbers into our helpers.

Make it a rule: “I will write an essay on economics, do a task on time management, and if there is free time, I will play for an hour

into a computer game”, and strictly follow it. Then the important work will be done, and there will be time for entertainment.

Benefits of the Eisenhower Matrix:

- easy to use;

- allows you to reduce the number of unimportant cases;

- helps to quickly identify priority tasks and cases.

Stephen Covey Time Management Matrix

Stephen Covey was one of the few people on the planet who knew how to properly manage every minute of time.

Covey worked on the author's time management system for several years, investing in it all the practical experience that he has accumulated over hundreds, and maybe thousands, of consultations of businessmen and just business people who dream of squeezing everything out of time. Until the very last drop.

Stephen has written several books on productivity. The most famous The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It describes the habits that you need to adhere to in order to become more productive.

Briefly about each of the habits:

Be proactive. Change the world around you to create a comfortable environment for achieving goals, self-realization and creation. Ignore factors that are beyond your control, such as politics
Get started with your end goal in mind. All your actions should be directed towards achieving this goal.
Compose time management matrix and give priority to important and at the same time non-urgent tasks
Act on strategy win-win(won-won).

In any problem, there are always 2 sides (participants). Think about how to solve it simultaneously and in the most beneficial way for everyone
First seek to understand the person, to be understood is a matter of second importance. Develop empathic listening - accepting emotions, feelings, and not just words from a person. And don't forget to give your
Strive to catch the synergistic effect. Synergy means that the whole is always greater than its constituent parts. The effect appears when working on difficult tasks, as well as when working in a team
Sharpen your saw. Continually improve your planning, communication and empathy skills

The most interesting and unusual item of the above is the third item: "The Time Matrix".

What is a time management matrix and how to work with it

A matrix is a template by which one can determine task order.

Physically matrix is a square divided into 4 smaller squares. measured horizontally urgency, and vertically importance.

Any new business must be correlated with one of the squares and, depending on the chosen square, a specific action must be taken, for example, immediately take on the implementation or postpone it for later.

Case options

Stephen Covey's time management matrix suggests 4 options for the development of actions.

If the case urgent and important, it needs to be done right now. The proportion of such cases can reach up to 40-50%. Covey argues that urgent and important tasks contribute little to achieving your main goals. The presence of a large number of such cases, first of all, speaks of an emergency, and therefore, of improper organization of working time and low personal productivity.

If the case urgent and important, then for its implementation you need to allocate the maximum amount of time, attention and resources. It is these things that lead you to your goals, which means that the benefits from the implementation are maximum.

If the case urgent and unimportant, you need to delegate (instruct) it. Try to find a performer for whom this task is important. This way you save your own time.

If the case unimportant and unimportant- don't do it. Sometimes it is psychologically difficult to refuse to perform, because the idea has already strengthened in the mind that the task must be completed. If you can’t show willpower and overcome yourself, put the task on a separate “To Do Someday” list.

How to manage a lot of cases using the matrix

Most likely, you are a very busy person and the number of your cases is measured in dozens.

Trying to keep them in your head or write them down on paper is counterproductive.

We present you LeaderTask - a specialized program for analyzing cases. LeaderTask supports Stephen Covey's time management methodology.

Create 4 folders (projects) in the program to work on the time matrix:

Start filling them with tasks:

Try LeaderTask to work on the Covey time management matrix.

Download LeaderTask

The Eisenhower Matrix (bearing the name of the 34th President of the United States, who invented it) is one of the time management methods for prioritizing the tasks of the day. The matrix looks like four squares, which are obtained by crossing the axes "Important - Not Important" horizontally and "Urgent - Not Urgent" vertically.

How to use this matrix? Just sort your tasks (for example, the tasks of the day) there according to their importance and urgency.

Important and urgent matters are those that are very important and cannot be delayed. Without them, everything will collapse, and it will be too late to make them tomorrow. These things need to be done today, first of all - and without fail. Examples of important and urgent tasks: completing a project task that is about to be due; an unscheduled trip to the dentist, traumatologist or other specialist; urgent phone call to a client or counterparty. In theory, the square of important and urgent matters should be empty, but in practice, sometimes every person has important and urgent matters, some of them are generated by laziness, some by a lack of professionalism, and some by force majeure.

Things that are important but not urgent are important things that will soon become urgent. If you do not plan to wait for this and arrange an unnecessary race for yourself, then pay close attention to these matters. Examples of such cases: current (planned) work on your projects; planning new projects; evaluation of the results obtained by projects.

Things are not important, but urgent. As a rule, things that do not bring you closer to the goal, whatever it may be, fall into this square, these are things that need to be done, but only in order to do them. Happy birthday (it turns out that Vasya was born today), the unexpected arrival of guests and other unplanned, imposed meetings that cannot be refused. If you can delegate something from this, instruct someone, do it by all means.

Not important and not urgent things - this is the most disgusting category of cases. They are not important, they are not urgent, but they are what you want to do. These are your time wasters - reading glossy magazines, playing computer games, watching TV and surfing the Internet.

Important: many people start doing garbage when they are just tired. When you want, you want. So, this is the wrong decision. That's right - plan a quality vacation (this category is Important, but not urgent) and have a quality rest, and not engage in garbage.

In summary, as a tool, the Eisenhower matrix works and, moreover, organizes well if you follow it. You can be proud of yourself if the "Important and Urgent" square is often empty for you: and this is quite real if you more often deal with the affairs of the "Important, but not Urgent" square. This is how professionals work!

It will be useful for you to determine how effectively you spend your time, whether you know how to set priorities and delegate responsibilities.

Write out a plan for one day from your weekly / diary. What did you do, what tasks
decided who you met with, who prevented you from working, how much time did it take? Divide what you have done into the four quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix, indicating the time spent.

Calculate how the time was distributed over the four quadrants?

Processing of results.

Quadrant I - those cases that require immediate resolution. They are both urgent and important, and so
and shout about themselves: “Do it! Make up your mind! Answer the letter! Meeting! Prepare a report!

What did you receive?
If the I quadrant has grown disproportionately, this means that dates and dates control you, not you your life. Maybe you just dragged everything to the last limit? After all, it is very possible that the tasks of quadrant II, which are also important, but not urgent, have become urgent because you did not have time to complete them on time? You lack a strategic approach to the problem. The manager, and just a person who finds himself in such a situation, is under the daily sword of Damocles of stress caused by an enduring crisis situation. You have neither the time nor the strength to think about long-term plans, prepare proposals for a new product, your friends, with whom you value relationships so much, have forgotten how you look. You catch up with the departing train, and at one point you will find yourself on an empty platform with a broken heart.

Why?
You set priorities incorrectly, do not know how to delegate responsibilities, do not trust
to your employees, pull all the burdens on yourself. In this state of affairs, it is difficult for you to
count for an increase, because You do not have an opinion, a vision for the future of the company, you are completely busy
important issues of today.

What to do?
Learn to delegate responsibilities, educate yourself a deputy, an understudy, if you want, who will replace you if necessary. Prepare a list of duties that your employees can perform instead of you. Review the priority list. Move the center of gravity of your activity to quadrant II.

Golden rule: A crisis is easier to prevent than to resolve.

Quadrant II. Important, but not urgent - great philosophy! If you managed to allocate your time in such a way that quadrant II turned out to be the most filled with cases, you can be sincerely congratulated!

What did you receive?
You perfectly know how to “separate the wheat from the chaff”, concentrate on the main thing, have your own view on everything, because you have enough time to calmly think about current and future projects. You have good business relations with your colleagues, you have someone to turn to with a question and for advice, if necessary.

Why?
Your prioritization system is well suited to your particular activity.
You know how to delegate responsibilities and do not waste time solving other people's problems.

Quadrant III. No matter, but urgent? Insignificant trifles, short-term goals, momentary interests and problems.

What did you receive?
Don't you think that you plug up all the holes? Or did you arrange it yourself? Why are you doing the most unimportant part of the job? Who does everything else for you?

If, in addition, the second place in terms of time spent in your matrix is occupied by quadrant IV, then you are the first candidate for dismissal.

Why?
For some reason, you have chosen only unimportant ones from all your job responsibilities. Moreover, you yourself have determined what is the main thing for you, and what is vanity of vanities. If you yourself admit that you waste time on unimportant tasks, then why do you do this? You have neither clear goals nor plans, both for the near future and for the long term. It looks like sabotage, and you yourself will suffer from it first of all.

What to do?
If you are going to look for another job, think first, what recommendation from your current management can you count on with such labor enthusiasm? It's probably better to put things in order at your present place of work, so that your boss will let you go with tears in his eyes and a promise to accept you as soon as you want to come back. To do this, you need to “simply” shift the center of gravity of your affairs to quadrant II, become an indispensable and really necessary employee. To do this, you need to immediately review the list of priorities, schedules for completing tasks, and master all the time-saving techniques. You have nowhere to retreat, you are in a crisis that can end badly!

Quadrant IV. Unimportant and non-urgent matters. What are you paid for? You don't mind spending
your life to do worthless deeds? Comments are superfluous.

"Urgent things are usually not the most important,
and the important ones are not the most urgent.”
D. Eisenhower

A preliminary analysis of your Eisenhower Matrix has shown that people who are striving and achieving success avoid doing things from quadrants III and IV.

If most of your cases are in quadrants I and III, it is useful for you to read the note: Quadrants I and III

Every day we have to make hundreds of decisions, and the higher the position, the more decisions we have to make. How do you separate the important from the unimportant? One simple yet productive way is the Eisenhower Square, also known as the Eisenhower Matrix. This system, with , works great for both daily and long-term planning. Below you will learn about the author of this technique (he was an outstanding person), as well as about the features of using the Eisenhower Square technique itself.

Dwight Eisenhower has lived one of the most productive lives you can imagine.

Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, serving two terms from 1953 to 1961. During his tenure, he initiated programs that led directly to the development of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, the launch of the Internet (OACRA), space exploration (TA8A), and the peaceful use of alternative energy sources (Atomic Energy Act).

Before becoming president, Eisenhower was a five-star general (the highest rank), served as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II, and was responsible for planning and executing the invasion of North Africa, France, and Germany.

In addition, he served as president of Columbia University, became the first Supreme Commander of NATO, and in doing so somehow found time to pursue his hobbies: golfing and oil painting.

Eisenhower had an incredible ability to maintain his performance not only for weeks or months, but for many decades. And for this reason, his methods of time management, task management and productivity have been studied by many people.

His most famous performance strategy is known as the Eisenhower Square. This is a simple decision making tool that you can start using right now. Let's talk about how to be more productive and how the Eisenhower strategy works.

The Eisenhower Square: How to Be More Productive

Eisenhower's strategy for taking action and organizing tasks is very simple. It uses a decision matrix (in the picture below), in which you will distribute your actions based on four possibilities:

Urgent and important (tasks that should be done immediately).

Important but not urgent (tasks that can be scheduled to be done later).

Urgent but not important (tasks that can be delegated to someone else).

Not urgent and not important (tasks that can be eliminated).

The great thing about this matrix is that it can be used both for making long-term plans for productivity ("How should I spend my time every week?") and for small daily tasks ("What should I do today?") .

Note: I created the Eisenhower Square template as a spreadsheet. You can download this template for your personal use at the bottom of the article. (By the way, I translated this template into Russian, and if you want to get it - .

The difference between urgent and important

Important is rarely urgent, and urgent is rarely important.

— Dwight Eisenhower

Urgent tasks are those tasks that you need to quickly respond to: letters, phone calls, texts, news. Meanwhile, in the words of Brett McKay: “Important tasks are tasks that contribute to our long-term mission, values and goals.”

Separating these urgent and important things is easy enough to do once, but doing it all the time can be extremely difficult. The reason I like the Eisenhower Square method is that it provides a clear framework for making decisions on an ongoing basis. And like everything in life, consistency is the tricky part.

Here are some other observations I made using this method:

Liquidation before optimization

A few years ago, I was reading about programming and came across an interesting quote:

"There is no faster code than no code"

— Kevlin Henney

In other words, the fastest way to get something done - to have the computer read lines of code or cross a completed task off your to-do list - is to eliminate that task entirely. There is no faster way to do something than not to do it at all. Of course, this is not a reason to be lazy, but a suggestion to force yourself to make difficult decisions and remove any task that doesn't lead you to your mission, values, or goals.

Too often, we use performance, time management, and optimization techniques as an excuse to avoid the really important question: “Should I actually be doing this?”. It's much easier to stay busy and tell yourself you just need to be a little more efficient or "work a little later tonight" than to eliminate a task that you're just comfortable doing. But in fact, this is not the most efficient way to use your time. (Personally, I like the test phrase "Are you busy or are you productive?").

As Tim Ferriss says, “Stay busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”

I find the Eisenhower method particularly useful because it makes me question whether the action is really necessary, which ends up moving the task to the Delete quadrant rather than mindlessly repeating them. And frankly, if you just destroy all the things that you spend your time on every day, then you probably won't need any advice on how to be more productive at the jobs that really matter.

Will it help me reach my goal?

One final note: it can be very difficult for you to eliminate redundant actions if you are not sure which direction you are working in. In my experience, there are two questions that can help clarify the whole process of the Eisenhower method.

These two questions:

What am I working for? What am I working on? In what direction am I working?
What are the core values I strive for in my life?

These are the questions I asked myself in my Annual Review and in my Progress Report. The answers to these questions helped me clarify the categories for certain tasks in my life. After that, deciding which tasks to do and which tasks to delete becomes much easier, because you will understand what is important to you.

The Eisenhower method is not a perfect strategy, but for myself I have found it to be a useful decision-making tool for improving productivity and eliminating tasks that take up mental energy, time, and rarely lead me to my goal. I hope you find this method useful.

Original article: http://jamesclear.com/eisenhower-box

P.S.: A little bonus: the Eisenhower Square template: I have russified the Eisenhower Square template into a spreadsheet that you can download and use whenever you want to improve your productivity and eliminate wasted time. You can get it by contacting me and I will send you a copy of the table right away.

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