Eisenhower matrix

What it means

The Eisenhower matrix is a simple prioritisation tool named after the American president, who is said to have distinguished between the urgent and the important. Tasks are sorted into four boxes according to whether they are urgent and whether they are important.

Important and urgent tasks are done at once, such as filing a return on the last day. Important but not urgent tasks are scheduled, such as preparing the budget or improving processes. Urgent but unimportant tasks are delegated, and those that are neither are dropped.

The key is the second box. Tasks that matter but nobody is pushing get postponed in the daily rush until they turn into crises. Those who set aside regular time for planning and prevention fight fewer fires.

How it works in practice

We see the matrix at work with clients around tax deadlines. A company that hands in documents as it goes closes the year calmly. One that brings them in at the last minute turns an important task into an urgent one and pays with errors, stress and sometimes a penalty.

We recommend that directors of small companies run their task list through the matrix once a week. It shows how much time goes on routine work someone else could do, and what could be entrusted to an outside partner, such as bookkeeping, payroll or administration.

The matrix combines well with other tools. The Pareto principle helps find the tasks with the most impact, SMART goals help frame them and kanban tracks what is in progress.

What to watch out for

A common mistake is treating everything as urgent and important. If there are twenty tasks in the first box, the matrix has stopped doing its job and it is time to admit honestly what can wait and what will not be done at all.

The second risk is delegating without follow-up. Even an urgent but less important task, such as replying to an authority’s request, can have serious consequences if nobody sees it through. Delegating means handing over with a deadline and checking the result.