Eisenhower Matrix

This model was designed in 34th president of United State Dwight D. Eisenhower. In World War II he served as supreme commander of Allied forces and later led NATO.

Eisenhower Matrix also called urgent important matrix, this is a model which help you to find your priorities and perform your tasks according to your priorities.

This matrix consist of 4 quadrants each have contain own style. This matrix is design in such a way that you plane your activities according to the nature of the activity which shows the level of priority.

Urgent VS Important

1. Urgent

Activities demand immediate attention, and are usually associated with achieving someone else’s goals.

2. Important

Activities have an outcome that leads to us achieving our goals, whether these are professional or personal.

The matrix have

1. Do

2. Schedule

3. Delegate

4. Eliminate

1 DO

Under this quadrant important and urgent activities are fall and we do them in every condition. No matter how the conditions are going on, we are forced to DO IT NOW. We are unable to eliminate some issues or crisis. To resolve these issues we take time our schedule life to handle these unexpected issues or crisis.

For example medical emergency, unexpected meeting etc.

2 SCHEDULE

This quadrant consist of important but not urgent activities, these are the activities that help to achieve your personal or professional goals. We schedule these activities and do them soon. We never neglect or leave them but we complete them in near future.

For example health, relationship, dreams and good future.

3 DELEGATE

In this section urgent but not important tasks are fall. Such kind of activities reduce your productivity and disturb your attention and focus from your goals and deadline. You should reschedule or delegate them. For example you are in meeting or do assignment, in the meanwhile you receive a message or email, the respond is important but not urgent. You respond to the message or email letter or by some other person and complete your work before you become distract.

4 ELIMINATE

Where important tasks you meet and complete their unimportant and unrgent activities wait to distract abd waste your time. You should find out such kind of activities and entirely eliminate from your life. Actives are social media, unnecessary internet surfing, wandering aimlessly and too much sleeping. These activities badly affect your productivity, as soon as possible get ride off from these actives which are not important and not urgent.

How to Use Eisenhower Matrix?

If your life wondering like a bird in the sky, it becomes organized magically if you use the matrix. This is not an easy task but by doing some effort, you can get yourself on track.

First thing is to identify which tasks are urgent to you, because urgent tasks demand “DO IT NOW”. And then you need to identify which tasks are important to you, important tasks demands “Do IT SOON”. On the basis of your priorities you are able to use the matrix and then you effectively manage your time which increase your productivity.

By using this model, list your tasks, place them each into one of the following category

· Urgent and Important.

· Important but not urgent

· Urgent but not important

· Not important and not urgent

Some more points

· You also give color to matrix which describe the gravity of work and it is easy for you to remember the task.

· You also categories your personal and professional goals.

· Make checklist.

· Record time while doing task.

· Never become pressurized, take it easy and normal do.

· Beside the Eisenhower matrix you also use “to do list” and “weekly to do list” to manage your tasks and time.

Personal Experience about Eisenhower Matrix

Using this model help me to categories my daily activities which resultantly increase my productivity and help me to spend time efficiently. This model urge me to think logically. Activities which I like most are worst for me. As soon as possible I’ll get ride from these (bad) activities and spend time in fruitful activities which increase my productivity and enhance my management skills.