Eisenhower Matrix

How to use Eisenhower Matrix

President Eisenhowever famously won World War II and then ran the USA with the “Eisenhower Matrix” and this is built in to Sapience Projects. The reason why all tasks or goals (and projects themselves) require you to specify Urgency and Importance is exactly this.

Four Zones of work: by using Importance & Urgency you end up with the famous four zones of work.

Do First: these are items that are both important and urgent. Do them now.

Schedule: these are items of high importance that aren’t urgent. Put these on your calendar and block off time to work “on your business” not “in your business”.

Delegate: these are tasks that aren’t worth your time, but someone should do. They’re low importance but urgent. Give these to your team (or Sapience!).

Eliminate / Delete: Sadly, this is where most execs lose most of their time. You just shouldn’t be doing this stuff. Take a page out of Ike’s book.

Deep Dive: Under the hood, Urgency & Importance are from 1 to 5, or Very Low to Very High. So maximum “priority” can be 25.

Background & History

The Eisenhower matrix is a 2×2 grid for prioritising tasks by urgency and importance, helping you decide what to do now, plan, delegate, or drop altogether. It is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, whose way of distinguishing urgent versus important work inspired the framework and was later widely popularised by Stephen Covey in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

What it is

The Eisenhower matrix (also called the Eisenhower Box or Urgent–Important Matrix) is a time- and task-management tool built on two axes: urgent vs not urgent, and important vs not important.

Each task is placed into one of four quadrants, which then dictates the recommended action strategy for that task.

Who invented it

The concept is attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower, who highlighted the distinction between urgent and important problems in speeches and in his decision-making approach as a general and later U.S. president.

The specific 2×2 “matrix” form and its widespread use in productivity literature were systematised and popularised by Stephen Covey, particularly in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

How the matrix works

The matrix divides tasks into four quadrants:

Quadrant	Urgency / Importance	Typical label	What you do with it
Q1	Urgent & Important	Do first	Handle immediately; they have deadlines and real consequences.
Q2	Not Urgent & Important	Schedule	Plan and protect time; these drive long‑term goals and improvement.
Q3	Urgent & Not Important	Delegate	Reassign, automate, or minimise; they feel pressing but add little value.
Q4	Not Urgent & Not Important	Delete / Don’t do	Eliminate or strictly limit; these are distractions and time‑wasters.

Practical use

List all current tasks, then classify each by asking: “Is this important to my goals?” and “Is this time‑critical?”

Execute Q1 items now, block time in the calendar for Q2, delegate or systematise Q3, and intentionally say no to or remove Q4 so that more energy goes into high‑impact work.