Eisenhower Matrix

This is a tool to help with overwhelm and task prioritization. If you are like me and everything feels urgent, important, and must be done by me…then this tool is for us!

Make a list of the things that need to be done and then use this matrix to help you make decisions on when and who will complete the task.

If the task is important and urgent, then do it now and make it a priority. Waiting on these tasks usually results in consequences we don’t like. Procrastinating these things causes us unnecessary stress. When we feel a task is important sometimes we delay starting it to make sure we do it well, but that delay might get us into trouble. Life gets more peaceful when these tasks get done first.

If the task is not urgent but important, then decide if you want to do it now and get it out of the way, or since it isn’t urgent decide when you will complete the task. It might be something that needs extra energy or focused attention, so make sure the timing is right so that you can be successful. You might also decide to hand this one off to someone else.

If the task is less important but urgent, then ask someone else to do it. This is a great opportunity for us to ask for help and collaborate with someone else, which brings more connection into our lives. This is also a good opportunity to outsource something to someone who enjoys doing as task you don’t enjoy. Delegating can lessen our levels of resentment and bitterness in life.

And the most liberating of all categories in this matrix is not important and not urgent = delete! Not necessary is the synonym for not important and not urgent. Give yourself some freedom by giving yourself permission to delete tasks that are not necessary.

We all get to choose how we live this one wild and precious life (words of poet Mary Oliver). So, how are you going to live it? Are the tasks on your list aligning with the life you want to live? If not, do some adjusting this week. Hand off what you can, power out what you need to, delete some things, and then do something that brings you lots of joy.

This decision matrix is attributed to President Dwight Eisenhower. This is a nice article about his family and home in Abilene, Kansas. It is said that Eisenhower used this matrix to make decisions in his own life, and since many of you are from Kansas, it’s fun to think of him gifting us this great tool from one Midwestern to another.

I hope this tool helps you find some calm in the storms of life. The fast pace at which most of us live is unsustainable to our mental and physical health. Explore your definitions of urgent and important, sometimes our inner critic is making us hustle more than we truly need to. Find ways to make life fun and easy - then you become a magnet for happiness.

Thank you for this Mr. Eisenhower,