As the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower needed a decision-making tool to help sort through the chaos of daily presidential decisions.
So he built his own:
Urgent and important → do it now.
Budgeting, finishing client project, being with your kids, curing an illness.
Things with imminent deadlines and lasting benefit.
Important, but not urgent → schedule it.
Exercising, connecting with friends & family, long-term planning.
Things with relaxed deadlines but lasting benefit.
Urgent, but not important → delegate it/split it.
Things with imminent deadlines but no lasting benefit.
House cleaning, mowing the lawn, writing newsletter, home improvement.
*The original model suggests delegating things in this category.
I find it's sometimes impractical to do so.
Instead, what worked for me is to split these things into smaller chunks and work at them daily.
Not urgent and not important → delete it/postpone it.
Things with no deadline and no lasting value.
Netflix, social media, eating that pop-tart.
*The original model suggests deleting things in this category.
I still enjoy a good show (Peaky Blinders, Loki anyone?) but recognize they provide no lasting value.
Instead of removing them, I make sure I ticked off the other items in the matrix before committing my butt to the couch.
What is urgent to you?
What is important to you?
Cheers,
Tien