For most of us today, no two days are alike. On a Monday, you may have to prioritise your emails and reply to each of them. In the evening, you have a doctor’s appointment and of course, cook your dinner. The next day might be all about trying to finish off what couldn’t be accomplished the previous day.
It’s a cycle of ‘what’s left to do’ to ‘let me do that today’, and ‘I will get that done tomorrow’.
Primarily, your ‘tomorrows’ turn out to be an extended day – adding only a pile of tasks to your every day routine.
But when you know the right techniques to schedule your day, you don’t have to worry about pushing your tasks to the next day. All it takes is a little bit of planning, some thinking and voila! You will have your day sorted out.
To create a to-do list isn’t going to make this happen. No offence, but a to-do list is just another reminder for you to skip your breaks and get yourself working on the next task.
(It’s no less of an anxiety-generating thing that many still mull over).
With the Eisenhower Matrix, you’ll find another way to organise your to-do list. Not only does it sort your tasks out, but also will make you heave a sigh of relief.
This article isn’t going to define what the Eisenhower Matrix is about. Rather, it’s going to explain how you can make the best use of it and stop yourself from investing time on fretting about your tasks.
Let’s take a look at what the Eisenhower Matrix looks like when it comes to planning your day.
How to create the Eisenhower Matrix? Find out here.
The image above shows what an ideal Eisenhower Matrix for productivity looks like. Of course, you can skip the colours. But adding colours to each box from the matrix helps me colour code my tasks and hence, that’s something that is worth trying.
The first box you see labelled as ‘urgent’ includes tasks that you need to get started on right away. This could be working on a presentation, doing your homework, cooking lunch or anything as per your schedule.
Tasks in the urgent box need your focus. So delegating the urgent box to these action items will help you sort and pick up the most important tasks for the day.
Now, moving on to the box labelled as ‘not urgent’.
While you may feel that tasks in these boxes can be done tomorrow, well it’s not the best approach you should take.
Instead, these are tasks that you can schedule for the later part of the day. A pro tip would be to enlist tasks that do not need too much of your attention and can be done within a few minutes.
For me, this would usually be cleaning up my desk, ensuring I have done my laundry, charging my gadgets for any upcoming video shoots, or replying to DMs on my Instagram. And oh in case you like the content you are reading now, feel free to hit the follow button on @thecherticle on Instagram.
The third box are tasks that you can get done in a few minutes or even those that may not require your direct supervision. For instance, it could be paying the electricity bill, picking up the groceries, or anything that you can delegate to someone.
Finally in the last box, you can add tasks that are not at all important. Sometimes, it’s normal to add tasks to a to-d- list that are not mandatory to be done, but just an add-on.
If you tend to add such tasks to your list, then put them down on this box.
Ideally, tasks in the last square are tasks that can be deleted or unfinished – and don’t necessarily need to be done.
Does the Eisenhower Matrix work?
Oh yes it does.
If you tend to be a to-do list maker, but never get the opportunity to tick off every task until the end of the list, then you can find great results following the Eisenhower Matrix productivity technique.
All you need to do is divide your tasks into four quadrants and get started on achieving everything you have planned for the day.
If you have any queries about how to be more productive everyday, or how to use the Eisenhower Matrix in more detail, then feel free to mail them at thecherticle@gmail.com.
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