You know those days when you start working and you have so much to do that you can't get past the first item on your list? It's such a long, confusing list, that you end up lost, not knowing what to do, pretty much like John Travolta on that Pulp Fiction gif that got famous a while back. Tough!
But rest assured you're not alone. Most people have a hard time prioritizing tasks when working, which is good news: it means you and I are normal, and that lots of people have put some thought into the "I have so much to do, I don't know where to start" dilemma!
Thankfully, there are methods, such as prioritization matrices, that can help you prioritize your tasks and make more of your day. Stay with us to learn all about what the Eisenhower Matrix is and how it can help you organize your endless list of tasks.
What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix is a resource to help you decide which task to prioritize. Its name honors the former US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, as this matrix is related to a quote said to be his: "I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent."
The core idea of the Eisenhower Matrix is to tell "urgent" from "important", as well as what's neither urgent nor important. It's a simple way to prioritize tasks that helps you consider what needs to be done now and what can be postponed.
When to use the Eisenhower Matrix (or any other method) to prioritize tasks
- When you feel like you're running in circles, and your work doesn't seem to amount to much.
- You're always busy, but your task list keeps growing instead of getting smaller.
- You feel tired all the time, but can't see your progress.
- You have too much on your plate and feel lost, you don't know what to do.
Now that you understand what is the Eisenhower Matrix and how these prioritization methods can help, let's go a little more in-depth on how prioritization matrices work.
How the Eisenhower Matrix works
We already told you the Eisenhower Matrix helps you sort out what's important, what's urgent, and what can be postponed. Here's the actual matrix, going over what to do in each case:
Ok, maybe you see this and you're still wondering what to do. It's ok, we'll go through these concepts to help you prioritize your tasks.
URGENT: Tasks with tight deadlines that are nonnegotiable, and there'll be consequences for the business if they're not delivered.
IMPORTANT: Tasks that impact the business and your personal goals. If these aren't done, you and/or your team may be in trouble. Furthermore, these tasks demand your knowledge, as they're important to you. However, they don't really have a defined deadline.
So, URGENT & IMPORTANT = a task that impacts the business, requires your attention, impacts your goals, and the consequences of not delivering it on time are bad. Also, the deadline is close. DO IT NOW!
If a task has a tight deadline, but your expertise is not required, it means it's "JUST" URGENT. You can and should delegate. Seriously, DELEGATE, or you'll keep getting nowhere.
On the other hand, if the task impacts your personal work goals and your expertise is crucial, this means it's IMPORTANT. However, if such a task doesn't have a deadline, it can be put on hold. DECIDE when you're going to do it, schedule it, and work on it when you can.
To wrap things up, if a task doesn't have a deadline, no one is expecting it to be done, it has no clear impact on the business or your goals... Why on earth are you doing it again? Just DELETE it, mercilessly. It's probably a waste of time anyway.
So, tell us, are you feeling lighter now? Let's keep going, then, as there are other prioritization methods to go through.
Other prioritization matrices
As you might've suspected, there are other prioritization matrices, besides the Eisenhower. Here's three of them:
MOSCOW METHOD
The MoSCow method is an acronym, and forms a very simple matrix that helps you understand what is and isn't important in a project. The categories in it are:
- Must have: Vital tasks or requirements
- Should have: These are high priority, if not essential
- Could have: Features or tasks that are optional (we call them "nice-to-haves" in our day to day)
- Won't have: Tasks or features that will not be on our list now (or ever)
RICE MATRIX
This matrix supports strategic decisions — which tasks or projects will be taken further, and which won't. It is, like MoSCoW, an acronym:
- Reach: How many people will benefit? How many leads will this bring in?
- Impact: How much it changes or helps the work/business.
- Confidence: How confident is the team about the numbers calculated on the previous 2 items? How accurate are the estimates?
- Effort: How much time will this take from the team?
VALUE VS COMPLEXITY/EFFORT MATRIX
This one is similar to the Eisenhower Matrix, as it works with quadrants and dimensions, but instead of "urgent" and "important", it assesses value and complexity. This method helps you see low-hanging fruit and prioritize them.
- Value: How much value a task will bring to the company or clients
- Complexity: How hard it is to actually take on and complete this task
Other prioritization methods
The prioritization world is not only made of matrices—there are other ways to be more productive and get through your gigantic task list. Let's have a look!
KANBAN
This is a way to organize tasks and gain visibility over them. When you have your tasks organized and visible, you're able to prioritize them. This is why one of the task views we offer with Qntrl is Kanban.
The Kanban approach focuses on the workflow and, if you look at the path it takes a task to be completed, you can better understand what to change to improve it. This visibility is key to prioritizing tasks or projects.
CHUNKING & POMODORO
These methods are all about focusing on work by managing your time. And how do they help you prioritize? They help you dive deep into your tasks, focusing for a certain amount of time, so you can go through your list and gain perspective.
Chunks of time, for the Chunking Method, usually vary from 10 to 60 minutes. So, imagine you're starting your day and your first task is to clean up your inbox. You assign yourself 10 minutes, then time yourself to finish it, as you know this task should not take much more than this.
The Pomodoro Technique works the same way, but has defined blocks of time. You start your day with 25-minute slots separated by 5-minute breaks in between and, after 4 of those (a 2-hour cycle), you give yourself a 30-minute break, as a sort of "reward".
By being able to focus on tasks in blocks of time, you end up finding ways to prioritize and being able to go through your tasks more efficiently.
Prioritizing tasks is an ongoing job
Yes, that's it - we'll always have lists of tasks and projects to prioritize. That's why methods like these can help us — whether they're existing methods or a mix that you come up with on your own way to prioritize. Either way, you need to know your list of tasks before you can organize it - or else running around in circles will be your regular mode of operation.
Regardless of the method you choose, it's key to follow some essentials:
- List out your tasks and projects so you know what you need to do.
- Understand each task or project's importance and urgency to find a way to prioritize them. There's no magic or one-size-fits-all method, you'll have to try your hand here to sort it out.
- Keep track of these tasks and projects to ensure things are moving forward, progressing as they should (have you ever tried workflows?).
- Keep your list updated and in check, as priorities change, and getting organized starts with knowing what you need to do.
Do you have any tips on prioritizing tasks and projects? We want to hear from you in the comments section!
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