Out of Chaos: The Eisenhower Decision Matrix 

“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important” 

Dwight Eisenhower

A few days ago I had lunch with a group of friends, it was our first outing after almost six months of being in confinement because of COVID-19. 

A friend said: “if we are going to meet, let´s go to a fashion spot”. We all accept, without knowing exactly what “a fashion spot” meant after so many months of confinement. We chose a restaurant with a nice terrace, but above all to return us to that reality that we saw more and more distant. 

We arrived little by little, there was an atmosphere of excitement, surprise, and great curiosity to know how the pandemic had changed us. Without a doubt, we were returning from a long journey, everything was rediscovery and novelty. The etiquette rules were a challenge, we did not know how to say hello: – Is a hug correct, a kiss on the cheek? … Impossible! And what if we just shake hands… No, better from afar and with mimic! 

Once the first obstacle has been dodged, now “when do we take off the mask?” 

Once the conversation started, we went from the frivolous joke to telling each other a thousand times that we look the same, although obviously, we all looked out of shape and with a few extra pounds. Then came a quick roll call of our acquaintances, friends, and family. No casualties to regret. We are lucky, life goes on! … We all raised our glasses and toasted: – Cheers! … that expression so often said, today resonated with all its meaning. 

It’s time to eat. And the menu? … “It’s on your cell phone … OMG!, I forget that everything is digital now! … I hope the food is not a hologram!” LOLs. 

Becca, my friend who organized the meeting, was late, very common for her. “My apologies, I couldn´t leave my house, I have a thousand urgent things to resolve, emails, phone calls, reports … Home office is not my thing. Besides that, the children’s homework, prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner, the house payments, it’s a never ending story. ” 

Adriana, who until then had been silent, exploded into catharsis. “Right! I don’t even know what day I’m living anymore!” 

We all agree. Laughing and showing solidarity, we began to share our sorrows: “One day is similar to the other, today is the same as yesterday, and yesterday the same as the day before… There is not enough time at all… I have a change of pending… I don’t know where to start , if because of home or work issues … I forget everything … I feel like I’m doing a lot and I’m not making any progress … Even though, I’m at home all day, I don’t have time to workout.” 

Sergio saw us amused: “Nothing happens, everything is a matter of organization. Do you want to improve your productivity? Follow the Eisenhower Decision Matrix. “We all fell silent. As always, we thought it was one of his jokes, to change the subject, but no, he continued: “Dwight Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States, from 1953 to 1961, he had a great ability to manage several projects at the same time , carry out big missions and get successful results in a short time. His methods for managing time, tasks, and productivity have been studied and applied in everyday activities and in business leadership. One of the most famous strategies is the decision matrix that bears his name, it is a very useful tool to organize simple tasks and to plan your day.” 

Becca interrupted: “Don’t get so solemn. Let’s change the subject. There will be time for the important, let’s go to the urgent, how have you been? … ” 

Adriana stepped out: “We are all well and healthy, that’s the most important thing. After a while I will update you … Let Sergio tell us more.

I want to know more about the Eisenhower Decision Matrix. I find it very interesting.” 

“It’s something very simple,” Sergio continued. “It’s as easy as eliminating repeated tasks and deciding between what is important and what is urgent to be more productive, make the most of the day and get better results.” 

I intervened: “It´s precisely there that is difficult, knowing how to differentiate the important from the urgent.” 

“I thought the same, but it´s not that difficult, it´s like everything, at the beginning it requires dedication and practice,” said Sergio. “Urgent tasks are things that come up as a priority in your mind and for which you feel the need to react, for example, read or answer emails, make phone calls, make payments, move things around, clean some space, take a look to social media, etc. However, they are hardly ever important things and are time consuming. Instead, important tasks contribute to our mission, values ​​and long-term goals and almost always have to do with projects that will bring us some professional, financial or emotional satisfaction.” 

At that moment, Sergio, had already managed to capture our attention. His presentation flowed naturally and without interruptions: 

• First, we must make a list of the actions that we want to do and the tasks that we have pending. 

• Second, divide the list into four possibilities, according to the importance and urgency of each one. Prioritize according to each of these four possibilities. 

“I don´t understand.” Adriana commented. 

Sergio took a napkin and began to draw a rectangle, which in turn contained four rectangles, and began to explain each of them: 

(Imagen servilleta) 

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix provides a clear framework for making decisions, helps to distinguish if an action is necessary, important, or urgent, if it can be eliminated, delegated, or done immediately. 

• Urgent and important (tasks that you will do immediately) 

• Important, but not urgent (tasks you can do later) 

• Urgent, but not important (tasks that you can delegate to someone else) 

• Neither urgent nor important (tasks that you can delete) 

Usually, we feel productive when we do a lot of things, but very frustrated when we see that our results are poor. Frequently, we make the mistake of keeping busy and we pressure ourselves trying to do more and more things in less time, however, the reality is that the opposite happens, we do less and less in more time, that is because we do not dedicate our attention to truly productive tasks that bring us closer to our goals and projects. 

“That happens to me,” Becca admitted. “Me too”, we all said. 

Sergio continued with his impromptu presentation: “Often times, productivity, time management, and task optimization strategies fail because we avoid key questions, such as: Do I really need to be doing this? What I’m doing help me meet my goal? … Taking time to reflect on these questions helps us prioritize the truly important tasks and brings us closer to our goals. Deciding which activities to do and which to eliminate is easier when we are clear about what is most important to us on a personal level, the obligations and demands of work and family. ” 

The lunch continued with laughter and jokes almost until dusk. Finally, we said goodbye with due healthy distance and we agreed to organize another for the following month. Sergio joked that the next gathering would not be considered as “Not Important” and “Not Urgent”. 

We all left with the concern to apply the Eisenhower Method from now on. At least in my case, I´m already applying it. It will not be the most innovative strategy, but I have found that the Eisenhower Method is quite a useful tool for making decisions and increasing my productivity by eliminating the behaviors that consume my mental energy and that never lead me towards the achievement of my goals. 

And you, do you have any method to organize your day? Do they have it in the company you work for? Well, think about it…