

Quadrant 4: Don’t do (not urgent, not important)
#PROJECT PRIORITY MATRIX TEMPLATE PROFESSIONAL#

When something is both urgent and important, it should be at the top of your to-do list.

Let’s break those 4 quadrants down… Quadrant 1: do (urgent and important) The Eisenhower Matrix (available as a template) divides every task into 4 quadrants, therefore organizing your to-do list. The Eisenhower Matrix is a no-nonsense, streamlined method for determining the urgency and value of every task in your life and business.Īlso known as the Eisenhower Decision Matrix and the Urgent-Important Matrix, it guides its users towards prioritizing tasks based on urgency and importance. “Who can define for us with accuracy the difference between the long and short term? Especially whenever our affairs seem to be in crisis, we are almost compelled to give our first attention to the urgent present rather than to the important future.”Įisenhower’s skill at prioritizing tasks led business experts to develop a simple prioritization tool in his honor. In a 1961 address to the Century Association, President Eisenhower laid the foundation for 21st-century prioritization: How the Eisenhower Matrix makes prioritization easy It also means you have less work to take home, less of a backlog of important tasks, and more personal time you actually get to spend on yourself. Spending effort on work that is actually important - instead of what “feels important” - means that every minute of your workday has value. In both cases, you’ll want to use that time wisely.Īt work, the average office worker spends under 3 hours a day on important tasks, while wasting 2 hours on non-productive “stuff.” If you sleep 8 hours a night, that’s just as much time at work as it is personal time. Why is prioritizing so important?Īmericans spend 7.9 hours per day at work - or about 33% of their weekday. Pouring your effort into high priority tasks is crucial to making sure you use your time well. It’s about the impact that choice will have on your life. In the business world, managers work to deprioritize efforts of low value in favor of ones that benefit the well-being of the team or better help you achieve your business’ objectives.ĭeveloping the skills to prioritize one task over another is about more than determining value though. It’s most often referenced in terms of a to-do list, but you can prioritize almost anything - big purchases, calls to friends and family members, your Netflix watch list - you name it. Prioritizing is the act of choosing which things are more important than other things. In this article, we’ll walk you through the secrets of prioritizing like a pro, warn you against the 3 enemies of prioritization, and introduce you to the secret sauce of prioritization: the Eisenhower Matrix. There are so many prioritization models, apps, and methods, they can end up feeling as though they’re weighing you down even more than you were before you started. Prioritizing. Even the word sounds overwhelming.Īnd, sometimes, prioritizing your life and business can feel more difficult than it truly is.
#PROJECT PRIORITY MATRIX TEMPLATE HOW TO#
How to prioritize your life and business with the Eisenhower Matrix Blog: Monday Project Management Blog
