It’s a time management tool based on strategies and techniques pioneered by Dwight D. Eisenhower

1. Introducing Eisenhower Matrix
FP IT Teams

3. What is Eisenhower Matrix? (1)
It’s a time management tool based on strategies and techniques
pioneered by Dwight D. Eisenhower.
It’s also known as the Eisenhower Box or the Urgent/Important
Matrix.

4. What is Eisenhower Matrix? (2)
It’s a simple framework for prioritizing tasks and managing
workload.
It’s named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, a
five-star general and the 34th president
of the United States.

5. What is Eisenhower Matrix? (3)
Eisenhower was known for his incredible levels of productivity, so
much so that his approach to goal-setting and time management
has been comprehensively studied by a wide range of people, one
of whom was Stephen Covey.
In his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Covey
repackaged Eisenhower’s ideas into a simple tool for task
prioritization: the Eisenhower Matrix.

6. What is Eisenhower Matrix? (4)
«I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The
urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent».
All you need to do is evaluate your tasks according to urgency
and importance.

7. How does the Eisenhower Box work?
By assigning tasks to one of the four quadrants below, you can
determine how urgent they are and work out how to deal with them
in an appropriate manner:
Quadrant Urgent Important What to do?
1st ✅ ✅ Complete immediately
2nd ❌ ✅ Schedule for later
3rd ❌ ❌ Postpone
4th ✅ ❌ Delegate to someone else

9. 1st quadrant: urgent and important
These are “do first” tasks that are vital to deal with as soon as
possible. They’re usually last-minute requests that arise due to
unforeseen circumstances.
Generally, tasks like this should be completed immediately or on
the same day.
Examples include covering a project for a sick colleague or dealing
with an unforeseen emergency, such as a supply chain disruption.

11. 2nd quadrant: important, but not urgent
These are long-term goals/tasks that are important, but don’t have
a particularly firm deadline, so you can schedule them for
completion later.
Examples include gaining a professional qualification or planning
for long-term business target, such as budget reduction.

13. 3rd quadrant: neither urgent nor important
These tasks are a distraction and should be avoided if possible. In
many cases, you can simply postpone, ignore or cancel these
types of tasks.
Examples include unnecessarily activities.

15. 4th quadrant: urgent, but not important
These tasks need to be completed immediately, but they may not
be important enough to require your attention, which means that
they can be delegated to other members of your team.
Examples include routine work, or lengthy meetings/phone calls
without a clear purpose.

16. Source and references
Source: What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
References:
● Eisenhower Matrix with Todoist
● The Eisenhower Matrix