Eisenhower Matrix

Named after U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, this prioritization framework helps you organize your tasks and activities by importance and urgency. It is especially useful when you are very busy but don't feel like what you do has much impact.

The Eisenhower Matrix has four quadrants along two axes: importance and urgency.

For every activity or task, ask yourself: Is it important or not? Is it urgent or not?

Based on the answer, place the activity/task in the right quadrant. The quadrant determines what you should do with the task:

1. Important and urgent → Do it — These are the tasks that you want to do as soon as possible. Crises, pressing problems and other things where not acting now has negative consequences.
2. Important but not urgent → Schedule it — Find a time for these tasks and do them then. This quadrant is typically where deep work happens – tasks that contribute to your projects or long-term goals.
3. Urgent but not important → Delegate it — If you can, find someone who can do these tasks for you. If you can't delegate it, schedule it but always try to do the important-but-not-urgent tasks first.
4. Not urgent and not important → Don't do it — These tasks aren't worth your time and you shouldn't do them at all. Avoidance activities, busy work and entertainment goes into this quadrant.

Here are some examples of activities and tasks that might go into the Eisenhower Matrix:

The promise of the Eisenhower Matrix is to make you more productive by setting the right priorities and acting on them. If you're always busy but don't get anywhere on your long-term projects and goals, this tool is definitely for you.