These are watching tv, scrolling social media, video games, surfing the net, needless phone calls/meetings/e-mails. These are time wasting tasks that deliver VERY LITTLE VALUE in terms of productivity. Read my blog post on ‘Online Outsourcing’ which will support you to delegate to fabulous, talented, freelancers. It’s best to spend as little time here as possible. If you can’t delegate, it’s also ok to decline and say no to these time wasters! In this case delegate, delegate, delegate. They may need to get done, but don’t necessarily need to get done by you. The best thing to do with these tasks is to either delegate or decline them. These are interruptions, problems that do not belong to you, non-relevant phone calls/meetings/e-mails. These are time wasting tasks that deliver VERY LITTLE VALUE. The more time you second here, the more PRODUCTIVE & SUCCESSFUL you will be. This is the most important quadrant and you should be spending most of your time here. These are strategy planning & review, review of strategy, goal setting, achieving & review, continuous Improvement, problem solving, personal development & looking after your Mind, Body and Soul. They are not urgent tasks but must be planned and scheduled to run the business or live the life you want for yourself. These tasks move you closer to YOUR GOALS. These are long term tasks that contribute to your business & personal strategy. You will be VERY BUSY in this quadrant but you will be making NO PROGRESS towards your goals! Only tasks that require your immediate attention should go into this quadrant.Ĭare is required to ensure you do not spend all of time in this quadrant as this quadrant is basically FIRE FIGHTING. These can be deadlines, crises, problems that need immediate solutions, emergencies, last minute tasks. These are tasks that require immediate attention, they must be done asap. The matrix is divided into 4 quadrants determined by varying degrees of urgency and importance. Here is how this amazing ‘Priority Matrix’ works. Knowing where to focus our energy and time will help us declutter our tasks, feel less overwhelmed and focus on our top priorities.

If we add all of our tasks into the Priority Matrix, it looks something like the below which is cluttered and can be overwhelming. Many studies have been carried out on the detrimental effects of stress & burnout on the human body and going by these studies stress should be avoided at all costs.

It is widely known that knowing & focusing on our priorities can help us reach our goals while also ensuring we don’t become overwhelmed, stressed & burned out along the way protecting our most valuable asset – our health! Whether you call it ‘Eisenhower’s Matrix’ or ‘Covey’s Time Management Matrix’ – the ‘Priority Matrix’ is a highly effective and powerful tool for utilising your time wisely and focusing on what really matters in business & life. More recently this matrix has become popularly known as ‘Covey’s Time Management Matrix’, named after Steven Covey who introduced us to the matrix in his wildly successful bestselling book ‘The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People’ which was first published in 1989. This led him to invent the world-famous Eisenhower Matrix, which today helps us prioritise by urgency and importance. Before becoming President, Eisenhower served as a general in the United States Army and as the Allied Forces Supreme Commander during World War II.ĭuring this time Eisenhower had to make tough decisions continuously about which of the many tasks he should focus on each day. Eisenhower, who was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. Connect now to manage your tasks automatically.Eisenhower’s Matrix is named after it’s founder Dwight D. Prioritize all your work, share with your team and focus on the high-impact tasks first.

Priority Matrix creates a central source of truth to coordinate all the work your team needs to do.

The priority matrix