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Eisenhower Matrix or Eisenhower Box which we call the Presidential Time Management Technique because it comes from the 34th former president of the United States, Dwight D.Eisenpower who came up with a way to create a prioritized framework to handle the vast amount of work by listing tasks into four tables.
The Eisenhower Matrix will have two axes. The vertical axis is the axis that represents the importance of work. The horizontal axis is the axis that represents the urgency of work. In these two axes, it will be divided into a total of 4 squares, which means as follows:
The job that will be in the top left first is a job that’s close to the deadline. It’s an important task that needs to be done by today or at least tomorrow, and most people fall into this channel because of bad timing or waiting for the deadline to come first and you will do it. In this regard, we should arrange various tasks in advance so that there will be no excessive work on Q1 because the important work done in such a hurry may not be as good as it should be. This channel should have the least of work, so more detailed plans should be made.
Those tasks in the top right are usually the “most important” tasks but many people like to overlook them because they think the work is not urgent, so they will do it later until those tasks become Q1 work. Instead, if we focus on the work in this channel, it will help prevent future problems of urgency and stress. Apart from the work, it may be a plan for self-development, including taking care of yourself and people around you. Therefore, we should pay as much attention to Q2 work as possible and the results will be better than expected.
The lower left Q3 channel is usually less important but often “intervenes” with other things and becomes urgent tasks. For example, someone calls for urgent help. Consider carefully whether the work can be done by someone else. If other people can do it and do it better than ourselves, we should assign it to others, because we can take time to deal with more important things. In addition, entrusting other people’s work instead will help build trust and confidence.
The tasks in Q4 on the bottom right are the jobs that we shouldn’t waste our time with the most, because they will waste our time without consequences to the target. Whether using TikTok, Social media, or playing games for too long, it’s not a bad thing to rest but we should manage our time well. If you want to rest, do it after handling other tasks. There shouldn’t be a lot of tasks in this channel. If there are too many, they would be an excuse to keep us from working on Q1 and Q4.
So, consider all the tasks you’re working on, which ones are urgent, and which ones are important to achieve our work or plan in a timely and efficient manner.
