How to Simplify Your Task List and Improve Work Efficiency
It is not uncommon for business leaders to begin their week with a long, overwhelming task list. It’s not just executives either—when the to-dos start piling up, even a seasoned Executive Assistant can begin to feel overwhelmed.
There’s a simple and easy way to avoid the stress of that never-ending to-do list and improve work efficiency at the same time!
This key time management principle is called the “Eisenhower Matrix,” “Eisenhower Box,” “Priority Matrix,” or sometimes the “Urgent Important Matrix.” It has so many names because it’s been used by so many people—and it’s been used by so many because it works!
What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple yet effective time management and decision-making tool that improves work efficiency. It helps you choose which tasks are the most valuable, and which can be delegated, delayed, or deleted.
The concept dates back to a 1954 speech by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He said, “What is important is seldom urgent...and what is urgent is seldom important.”
This key concept has been expanded over the years into the Eisenhower Matrix we know today. It’s been continually lauded for its effectiveness by productivity authors like Gary Keller and Jay Papasan of “The ONE Thing,” and Stephen Covey of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” It’s even been developed into apps and programs like Priority Matrix, but the concept is so simple you can put it to use today.
How To Use the Eisenhower Matrix
Click the Image Above for a Full-Size Example.
Step 1. Create a List of Tasks
The first step toward improving your work efficiency with the Eisenhower Matrix is creating a list of tasks. Each of us has our own style of tracking our task list, which is perfectly normal and good. Whether you are addicted to tracking tasks in your Moleskin or go 100% paperless, the crucial next step after building your list is processing it.
Step 2. Organize Your Tasks Into “Urgent” and “Important”
After you have your big list of to-dos, begin placing them into two categories: urgent and important. Understanding these two core types of duties and organizing them correctly is the key to moving from putting out fires to growing your business!
Urgent tasks are the items that require immediate attention. They may be assignments with an imminent deadline, or a deadline that has already passed. They might even be trivial—but there will be consequences if you don’t complete them. They can commonly be tied to the goals or needs of someone else. However, keep in mind they might not always take the most time or effort!
Important tasks do not have a looming deadline. Rather, they are important because of the large impact they will have on your business goals or your own personal life. You don’t need to do them immediately, but they will be very valuable once completed. They usually take more time and effort—but not always.
To summarize, urgent tasks usually have deadlines and consequences, while important tasks will bring the most positive impact.
If you’re following along with this exercise, you’ll quickly realize that organizing your tasks into these two groups isn’t so simple. Unlike what Eisenhower said, there’s often a lot of overlap—and here’s where the real fun begins!
Step 3. Find the Overlap
This is where the Eisenhower Matrix really comes into play. Categorizing your tasks correctly will improve your work efficiency and can even change your life. In brief, the matrix is broken down into four quadrants to guide your tasklist processing:
Quadrant 2: Not Urgent — But Important
These are the items that don’t have a set deadline, but will be very impactful and bring you closer to your goals. They’re easy to procrastinate, and sometimes spill over into Quadrant 1. Making sure you have enough time to focus on these tasks each week will create steady progress toward the goals that change your life the most over time.
Quadrant 1: Urgent AND Important
These are the most important tasks that must be done immediately. There will be consequences for not completing them. If you have a lot of these, you should try to identify which ones you could have foreseen. Often some of these tasks may have fallen into Quadrant 2 a week ago. This is a great way to identify which items you’ve been procrastinating. Examples include: paying your quarterly contractor taxes, requesting vacation time to attend parent-teacher conferences, etc.
Quadrant 4: Not Urgent AND Not Important
These activities are just a distraction, and you should avoid them if at all possible. You can likely just cancel them or ignore them, or perhaps place them in a separate list for long-term followup or spare time activities.
Quadrant 3: Not Important — But Urgent
These are the tasks you should be delegating, and where Executive Assistants truly shine. These tasks need to be done, but don’t necessarily require your specific set of skills.
Examples of Quadrant 3 tasks could be sending thank-you cards to your recent sales contacts or putting your mail on hold for an upcoming vacation. If you have a lot of tasks in this quadrant, you should consider seeking some support. A 33Vincent Executive Assistant will eliminate these tasks so you can focus on your highest leverage work!
To recap, these four categories will help you prioritize the tasks that only you can do (urgent and important), schedule time to complete other tasks (non urgent but important), delegate to others (urgent but not important), and delete tasks from your list (non urgent and not important)! Your overall output will improve by learning to effectively use this matrix.
As a business leader or an Executive Assistant, you’ll have countless tasks pop up throughout the day that demand your attention. Using the Eisenhower Matrix will streamline the process of choosing what to work on next, instead of wasting time trying to figure out what’s best next. . The more you use this system, the more comfortable you will be with it. Before you know it, you are processing and prioritizing with this filter in mind without even thinking.
Using the Eisenhower Matrix
Like so many tools out there, figuring out how to make it work best for you and incorporating it into your existing weekly routines is key. Many Executive Assistants and executives alike will schedule themselves a block of time to prepare for the next week. (If you’re not prepping for the next week, you definitely should be!)
We’ve found the best way to incorporate the priority matrix to simply add it to your daily or weekly prep block to easily identify what you’ll need to do, schedule, delegate, and delete for the week ahead. Going into the next week with a clear vision on priorities makes a huge difference that even your client or staff will notice. Building it as a repeatable routine will enable a consistent approach to your tasklist and streamline your processing.
Your Next Steps
Are you ready to improve your work efficiency? Of course you are! Don’t wait for Monday, get started now.
Make a list of all your pending to-dos.
Download our printable and fillable Eisenhower/Priority Matrix here.
For each item on your monster to-do list, move them to a quadrant on the matrix.
Once you’ve completed your matrix:
Schedule time to do the non-urgent but important tasks
Delegate the urgent but not important tasks
Delete the non urgent and not important tasks
Start working on the tasks in the urgent and important quadrant.
Download our printable and fillable Eisenhower/Priority Matrix here.
The Matrix is Only The Beginning
Can you already feel your stress easing once you see your much smaller, and more manageable to-do list? Remember to process first, then execute, to improve work efficiency.
And remember, if you find yourself with an overwhelming amount of tasks in Quadrant 3, there’s always a 33Vincent Executive Assistant ready to help just a few clicks away!
33Vincent has many other resources to help you maximize your time and communication with your executive assistant.