Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks that you need to complete and unsure about what you should tackle first? If so, Dwight D. Eisenhower can help. Our 34th president was once quoted as saying, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” These words of wisdom were used to create a prioritization technique called the Eisenhower Box. Here’s what it looks like…
- Tasks that are important and urgent are assigned to the top-left box. These are the tasks that you should tackle first.
- Tasks that are important but not urgent are assigned to the top-right box. You should look at your schedule and figure out a good time to get these tasks done. Set some deadlines for yourself, if you think that would be helpful!
- Tasks that are urgent but not important are assigned to the bottom-left box. Try to delegate these tasks to others, if possible.
- Tasks that are not urgent and not important are assigned to the bottom-right box. You can forget about these tasks. Just scratch them off of your “to-do list.”
This method should help you to get organized, finish your most important tasks first, and increase your productivity! It will also help you to avoid wasting time on things that aren’t important.
Clear, J. (n.d.). How to be more productive and eliminate time wasting activities by using the “Eisenhower Box”. Habits Academy. Retrieved from: https://jamesclear.com/eisenhower-box
