Periodic Table of Frameworks · Time · Person

Em

4 parts

Eisenhower matrix

Dwight D. Eisenhower / Stephen Covey

You want a day that belongs to what matters. The problem is everything that yells gets the hour. Two questions: urgent or not, important or not. That is the whole choice. Skip them and you will be busy until you are empty. Sort them and the important-not-urgent box is where a life is built.

Urgent

Not urgent

Important

Not important

Hover or tap a piece.

In one line

A task is urgent or not, important or not. Those two questions are the whole choice.

Use this on a task. It answers: Where does the time go?

The other half

The Slight Edge

The matrix names the important-not-urgent box. The Slight Edge is what you do in that box for years.

How this talks to the others

  • Leads into

    Two fears

    Urgency is often not-enough in a hurry. The important-not-urgent work is where not-loved waits.

  • Pushes against

    Rapid Planning Method

    The matrix sorts tasks. RPM refuses the task as the unit. The Result is.

  • Pushes against

    Deep work

    The matrix sorts by urgency. Deep work treats urgency as a trap. They disagree about the hour.

  • Leads into

    Balanced Scorecard

    The scorecard is what makes important-not-urgent visible as a number. Without it, the matrix is a feeling.

Seminars