Effective prioritisation: The Eisenhower Matrix (Wayfinder #9)

David Elikwu -

Welcome back to the ninth issue of Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions.

Ever found yourself putting out fires all day, only to later realise you let the bigger flames spread? Think of your day as a room full of alerts. Some are loud, urgent beeps while others are quiet vibrations which could be easily missed. The Eisenhower Matrix helps you distinguish between them.

Cutting through the fog of war

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States and had the weight of a nation on his back as he led America through the Cold War.

But before becoming president, Eisenhower had worn many hats. He was a decorated military general known for meticulous planning, evidenced by an impressive 37-year military career.

During World War II, he rose to the rank of five-star General of the Army and led the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe.

Eisenhower oversaw two of the most consequential military campaigns of World War II: Operation Torch in the North Africa campaign and the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

This was a man used to having a million things on his plate, but he was able to cut through them effortlessly with a mental model that's since been named after him.

The to-do list problem

Nobody voluntarily leaves their to-do list untouched. The problem is how frequently we can get sucked into doing trivial things, letting hours slip by until we're confronted by the harsh reality of deadlines and fires that are out of control.

There’s a perverse joy in ticking off ‘buy milk’ while your grand project idea festers in obscurity. This happens because we're often, unwittingly, wading knee-deep in cognitive traps.

It often starts with bikeshedding: expending energy on trivial tasks just because they seem simpler. Then optimism bias sets in – where we believe our future selves are more efficient versions of today. This is compounded by the planning fallacy: a failure to accurately predict exactly how much time a task might gobble up.

Suddenly important things creep up on you and you're short on time to accomplish them.

Using the Matrix:

Picture a 2x2 grid. On one axis, you have ‘Urgent’ and ‘Not Urgent’, and on the other, ‘Important’ and ‘Not Important’.

Your mission? Slot tasks in accordingly.

  1. Quadrant I - Urgent & Important: These are your fires. Address them immediately.
  2. Quadrant II - Not Urgent & Important: The strategy room. Allocate time for these to ensure long-term success.
  3. Quadrant III - Urgent & Not Important: Delegatable distractions. Pass them on or set them aside.
  4. Quadrant IV - Neither Urgent nor Important: Time-wasters. Reduce or eliminate these.

The tyranny of the urgent

There’s a phenomenon known as the Mere-Urgency Effect which was investigated by Zhu, Yang, and Hsee in a 2018 study.

The study revealed that people typically prioritise urgent tasks over important ones, regardless of the rewards.

Our attention is swayed by urgency. The Eisenhower Matrix attempts to flip this, giving importance the limelight.

Reflect:

  1. What tasks have you been treating as Quadrant I, but they truly belong in Quadrant III?
  2. How much of your week is spent in Quadrant II, the zone of strategic thinking and planning?
  3. Are there tasks you can delegate or eliminate to free up more valuable time?

Time marches on, indifferent to our struggles. Some fires will rage but cause minimal damage. Some dangers will loom, seemingly at a distance, but arrive at your doorstep in a hurry and with devastating impact.

Add the Eisenhower Matrix to your toolkit and you'll never be shortchanged by your to-do list again.

Stay decisive.