In work and life, you will inevitably encounter all kinds of trivial and messy things that are entangled together. If you don't know how to deal with things according to priority, these complicated tasks will make you overwhelmed. Not only are time and energy wasted, but important work is not completed, resulting in low work efficiency.
This article is a guide to an effective time management tool. It introduces a time management method called the Eisenhower matrix analysis, which can help us prioritize what we need to do, invest our limited time and energy into the highest-priority things, and help us say goodbye to being in a hurry and become a master of time.
What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix analysis, also known as Eisenhower Matrix time management, divides work into four "quadrants" according to two different degrees of importance and urgency: important and urgent, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and not important but not urgent. Its main point is to focus your energy and time on things that are important but not urgent. For other things, as long as you are prepared in advance, you can take precautions and nip them in the bud.
As you can see from the figure above, the Eisenhower matrix analysis further splits "priority" into two dimensions: importance and urgency. Taking importance as the Y-axis and urgency as the X-axis, four quadrants are formed. The division of these four quadrants is conducive to our deep understanding and effective management of time.
How to develop an Eisenhower Matrix?
The purpose of the Eisenhower matrix analysis method is to analyze the urgency of things and then make reasonable time or resources allocation. So, how do we determine the importance and urgency of something? This part will give you a deeper look into the comprehensive Eisenhower matrix guide.
Quadrant 1
This quadrant contains some urgent and important matters. This type of matter has the urgency of time and the importance of impact. It cannot be avoided or delayed. It must be dealt with first and resolved first. It manifests itself as negotiations on major projects, important meeting work, etc.
Quadrant 2
These two quadrants are different from the first quadrant. The events in this quadrant are not time-critical, but they have a significant impact on the existence and development of individuals or enterprises as well as the establishment and maintenance of the surrounding environment.
Quadrant 3
The events included in the third quadrant are those that are urgent but not important. These things are urgent but not important. Therefore, the events in this quadrant are very deceptive. The fact that they are urgent creates the illusion that they are important. It consumes a lot of people's time.
Quadrant 4
Most of the events in the fourth quadrant are trivial chores, without the urgency of time or any importance. This combination of events and time is purely killing time and wasting life. For example, the figure below lists some daily events classified by importance and urgency for your reference.
How to apply the Eisenhower Matrix?
After understanding the Eisenhower Matrix analysis, how can we use it to manage time? It's very simple, we only need to use Boardmix online whiteboard to put the Eisenhower matrix guide into practice easily draw a time management thought phase diagram.
Step 1: Enter the BOSS whiteboard workbench and create a whiteboard
First, we open the official website of Boardmix Online Whiteboard, create a whiteboard and draw. It has a variety of creative expression tools such as graphics, lines, palettes, brushes, notes, documents, etc., which can help us quickly produce the Eisenhower Matrix analysis.
Step 2: Clarify things and plan by category
Taking our daily work and life as an example, we classify and fill in the things we do into the four quadrants according to the dimensions of these four quadrants. In this way, we will find that the urgent and unimportant categories are blank. Generally, these are other people's affairs, so we can avoid wasting too much time and try our best to let the right people complete the matters in this category.
Conlusion
According to the Eisenhower Matrix analysis above, classify the things you live and study every day into each quadrant. Classify and implement things according to their priority. Solve the things in the first quadrant first, prepare for the things in the second quadrant in a planned way, invest as much time as possible in the second quadrant, and do fewer things in the fourth quadrant. For unimportant things in the third quadrant, you must learn to leave them to others appropriately. At the same time, we must learn to use a professional tool to help in the planning process - an online collaborative whiteboard.
Boardmix Online Whiteboard is a multi-person online real-time collaboration platform with planning, planning, and reporting functions. It integrates a variety of creative expression tools such as mind maps, free layouts, brushes, notes, documents, etc. It can be used to make mind maps, Gather inspiration, present creativity, etc. It provides a variety of preset theme styles, and you can freely design your favorite style. It can help you express your creativity and plan your work anytime and anywhere, making your logic clearer, your work more efficient, and your creation easier.
I hope everyone can use their time correctly and make time allocation more scientific, organized, and valuable. This is also a continuation of their own lives.
