Avoid “ Procrastination” with the Eisenhower matrix Technique
Avoid “ Procrastination” with the Most Powerful technique of time management :
Eisenhower matrix is one of the powerful and influential time management skills. The matrix was invented by D. Eisenhower when he was 34 th president of the United States.
Later Eisenhower matrix was republished in 7 habits of highly Effective people.
So in this blog, we are going to see how to prioritize work and avoid the procrastination trap where we delay the task.
What is the Eisenhower matrix?
Eisenhower matrix demands you to set priorities. The matrix consists of 4 quadrants and helps you to do what the situation demands. Every quadrant work on different fundamentals.
Eisenhower matrix is based on “urgency and importance” which build four quadrants.
Four quadrants are :
1. Important and Urgent — Priority
2. Not urgent and important — Schedule
3. Urgent and not important — Delegate
4. Not important and not urgent — Eliminate
Eisenhower matrix important vs urgent
1. Priority : Important & urgent -
Important and urgent tasks are those that you can do First thing in the morning.
The first quadrant demands immediate action that will lead to cause. We can easily see their deadlines and causes. Sometimes it’s emotionally hard for people to carry out tasks.
For example,
- A last-minute assignment deadline.
- A thief steals your Motorcycle.
2. Schedule: Not Urgent & Important -
Not Urgent and important tasks are those that help you to move towards the long-term goal.
The second quadrant relaxes people on one condition which is the task is not urgent and you can complete any date (No deadlines) where deep work happens.
Important tasks such as Building a professional network takes a long-term plan which throws away urgent parameter.
Advantages of Not urgent parameter helps you to achieve things slowly and effectively in the long term
For example,
- Planning to start a startup.
- Planning to take a gym membership & start exercising.
- Personal relationship building.
3. Delegate: Urgent & Not important -
An urgent and not important task based on busy work, suppose your time schedule demands you to go out to take some fresh air even if you don’t want.
The same logic applies to a corporate job where tasks are based on the expectations of others and most people end up doing,
Third quadrant where only “urgency lives” are the simple drive to complete the task at a given deadline without any productive work.
Focusing on the urgent quadrant will lead you to not living your life larger and where you cant control your day-to-day life by time management skills.
A possible way is to delegate the task or try to give more than a day to a task.
How to Delegate?
- Negotiate with your boss about work.
- Turn off notifications on your phone and computer while working on the task.
- Practice saying no! reduces stress.
4. Eliminate: Not important & not urgent -
Not important and not urgent are those tasks in the Eisenhower matrix which is less valuable.
People often end up doing an unnecessary task that is not important nor urgent, Time management skills do work if you want to learn and gain confidence by executing your task.
In the Eisenhower matrix, the fourth quadrant does not contribute anything to your progress so it does eliminate the task.
For example,
- Watching Television for unexpectedly long tiring hours.
- Browsing all day on social media.
You may also like :
- Pareto principle
- Utilize These Four Steps to Become Expert in Career Within a Month.
- 6 Surprising Time management skills you can work out Daily!
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Abhishek Patil life blogs
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