Time Management Matrix

Above is the time management chart known as The Eisenhower Matrix, named for President Dwight Eisenhower who used it in his own decision process. The visual comes from The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking by Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschäppeler (free online) (blog).

Notice how The Eisenhower Matrix places the most positive emphasis on Quadrant I. That differs from the chart above that the late Stephen Covey promoted in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, where he numbered the boxes differently and said Quadrant II is where you want to spend most of your time for effective time management. Either way, you want to invest most of your energy in doing what is important and not urgent. Better late than never. But never late is better.

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1 response
I'm not a huge Covey fan, but I think this time he's right. The quadrant 1 stuff has to be done, all right, just as Eisenhower said. But the quadrant 2 stuff is where your great new ideas and initiatives take root. In today's hectic world, there's often enough stuff in quadrant 1 to usurp all of the brainstorming and idea-building energy that's so necessary in quadrant 2. Any company or individual who doesn't reserve enough time to invest in quadrant 2 is going to jeopardize their future. Personally, I've found this to be a lifelong struggle.