The Eisenhower Matrix: a beginner's guide

The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple way to decide what deserves your attention. It is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the US president and general, who was known for sorting his own work by urgency and importance.

The four quadrants

Every task falls into one of four boxes:

1. Do First — urgent and important. Deadlines, emergencies, things that will hurt if you wait. Do these now.
2. Schedule — important, but not urgent. Studying, exercise, planning, building skills. These rarely feel pressing, which is why they get skipped. Give them a date.
3. Delegate — urgent, but not important. Interruptions and other people's priorities. Hand them off, or keep them short.
4. Drop It — neither urgent nor important. Mindless scrolling, busywork. Be honest and let these go.

How to use it in TaskBaddie

1. Add everything on your mind as a task.
2. Open the Matrix tab and drag each task into a quadrant (on a phone, use the small move menu on the task).
3. Start with Do First. When that quadrant is empty, TaskBaddie celebrates with confetti.
4. Look at Schedule every day. This quadrant is where long-term progress comes from.

A tip that makes it work

Most people overfill Do First. If half your list lands there, ask what you could have scheduled earlier. The goal is to spend more of your week in Schedule, so fewer things become emergencies.