Thread by @SahilBloom

How to get more done in less time.

The Eisenhower Matrix:

Dwight Eisenhower was known for his prolific productivity.

His secret?

"What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important."

The Eisenhower Matrix is a 2x2 popularized by @StephenRCovey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Here's how it works:

The matrix forces you to differentiate between the urgent and the important to prioritize your time accordingly.

An URGENT task is one that requires immediate attention to complete.

An IMPORTANT task is one that contributes to your long-term mission or goals.

The four quadrants of the 2x2 grid:

• Important & Urgent
• Important & Not Urgent
• Not Important & Urgent
• Not Important & Not Urgent

Let's walk through each:

Important & Urgent

They require immediate, focused attention—but also contribute to your long-term mission or goals.

These are "Do Now!" tasks.

Manage these tasks.

Important & Not Urgent

These tasks are your compounders—they build long-term value in your life.

These are "Decide" tasks.

Spend more time on these tasks—plan the time to do deep work here. This is where you should try to spend most of your time and energy.

Not Important & Urgent

These tasks are the "beware" category—they can drain time and energy without contributing to your long-term goals.

These are "Delegate" tasks.

Spend less time here and try to delegate over time to people for whom the tasks will be important.

Not Important & Not Urgent

These are the time wasting tasks and activities that drain your energy and sap your productivity.

These are "Delete" tasks.

Spend less time here.

Use the Eisenhower Matrix to categorize your current tasks.

The Goal: Spend more time on the important tasks that contribute to your long-term values and goals.

In simple terms:

• Manage top-right
• Spend more time in top-left
• Waste less time in the bottom half

The Eisenhower Matrix is my favorite productivity tool—I use it every single day.

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One additional point of note:

It’s tempting to classify things like relaxing and watching TV as not important and not urgent.

But if these activities help you recharge, they may actually be important.

Rest is important (essential) to your performance.

Remember: Life gets much less stressful when you realize that *URGENT* is very rarely that urgent.

The hold that artificial urgency has over our lives is crazy.

Fighting back against the patterns and behaviors created by constant connectedness is a worthy pursuit.

Fake Urgency pulls you away from Real Importance.

It has a doubly damning effect.

One of the biggest challenges I experience with this framework is balancing long-term important against short-term urgent.

Short-term urgent tends to promise near-term dopamine hits that incentivize you.

Long-term important tends to lack these hits, so it can be a struggle.