Boost Your Productivity with the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro technique is similar to the time blocking method that tells you to divide your whole workday into smaller blocks separated by small breaks.
The Eisenhower Matrix: How to Prioritize Your To-Do List
May 11, 2022
Often, we confuse not-so-important tasks with the most important ones, and it kills a notable amount of the whole day. This is why you need to differentiate tasks into four categories based on their importance and urgency.
Urgent and important tasks should be done first. Then you can gradually focus on important but not urgent tasks and urgent but not important tasks gradually. Place neither urgent nor important tasks at the end of the list. Or don’t place them at all.
What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
Eisenhower matrix technique helps you make the right decision and spend your time most effectively. With plenty of tasks on our to-do list, we often get confused about which task to handle first.
Sometimes, we even engage ourselves in tasks that aren’t important or urgent at all. The Eisenhower matrix can make you aware of which tasks you are spending your energy on to get rid of this situation.
How Does the Eisenhower Matrix Work?
The first thing the Eisenhower matrix does is differentiate important and urgent tasks from not-so-urgent and unimportant tasks. According to this method, urgent tasks are time-sensitive, and you need to focus on them as soon as possible.
On the other hand, important tasks also demand attention but not instantly. You can set a schedule for those tasks. The Eisenhower matrix simply divides all your tasks into four quadrants.
In the first quadrant, there are urgent and important tasks. That means you need to handle these tasks without any further due. They should be done immediately. The second quadrant contains tasks that are not urgent but important.
As you get a bit of time to do these tasks, you can schedule these tasks for later. The third quadrant has tasks that are urgent but not important. It means these tasks don’t require your direct attention, and you can delegate these tasks. Appoint someone to get these tasks done on your behalf.
The final quadrant is where we waste most of our time. These tasks are neither urgent nor important. If we have time after completing all the tasks of the other three quadrants, we can pick these tasks. But if we are in a hurry, these tasks can be eliminated from the list.
How to Use the Eisenhower Matrix?
The most challenging part of this technique is determining which task goes where. Some tasks might seem urgent, but actually, they aren’t. The first thing you should do is put the right tasks in the right quadrant.
Long-term important tasks are pretty flexible to make a schedule for them. Pick the tasks that demand your attention right now for the first quadrant. Start these tasks as soon as possible. In this portion, you can follow other productivity techniques as well.
And if something doesn’t need your expertise or experience directly, assign it to someone else. Doing this will relieve your stress. Finally, use your judgment to decide whether any task should be on the fourth quadrant.
