The Eisenhower Matrix — The president's inbox method
Front
The Eisenhower Matrix
The president's inbox method
A way of sorting tasks by what is urgent and what is important.
Back
Two axes: urgent vs not urgent, important vs not important. Four boxes. Most people live in the urgent-and-important box, reacting to crises. The highest-value work sits in the not-urgent-but-important box: planning, learning, building relationships. Working there before things become urgent is the strategy.
- Draw the four boxes on paper. Sort your tasks for the week. Notice where most of them fall.
- Eisenhower said: "What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important."
Eisenhower, quoted in various addresses
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