Eisenhower Matrix: Time Management for Website Development
Have you ever stuck on website development? You thought that everything was set, but you still didn’t make it? Maybe it’s because of your time management.
Setting priorities is said to enhance productivity and ensure that urgent tasks get immediate attention, but how can we decide which tasks to complete first when we can’t possibly complete everything in one day?
The 34th President of the United States and a five-star general during World War II–Dwight D. Eisenhower, quoted “I have two kinds of problems; the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent”. Do you relate this kind to this kind of situation? Later on, this problem led to the Eisenhower Matrix.
The Eisenhower Matrix
It is a task management tool that prioritizes tasks by urgency and importance. The tool divides tasks into four boxes based on what to do first, what to schedule, what to delegate, and what to delete.
Differentiation Between Urgent and Important
Urgent tasks require your immediate attention. When something is urgent, it must be done now, and there are clear consequences if you don’t complete these tasks within a certain timeline. These are tasks you can’t avoid, and the longer you delay these tasks, the more stress you’ll likely experience, which can lead to burnout. For example, your client sent you an RFP document and wanted you to send the proposal tomorrow before noon. If you don’t send the proposal in time, your client may look for another vendor to do their project.
Important tasks may not require immediate attention, but these tasks help you achieve your long-term goals. Just because these tasks are less urgent doesn’t mean they don’t matter. You will need to thoughtfully plan for these tasks so you can use your resources efficiently. For example, you have a website development project using a website builder and needs to be done in seven months. You need to plan your tasks on this project and what kind of maintenance you will provide after the project is done. This task can be done after you finish the tasks with a shorter timeline, or you can divide your plan by month.
Now you know the differences between urgent and important tasks, let’s see the four quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix!
Quadrant 1: Do
In this quadrant, you will place any tasks that are both urgent and important. When you see a task on your to-do list that must be done now, has clear consequences, and affects your long-term goals, place it in this quadrant.
There should be no question about which tasks fall into this quadrant, because these are the tasks that are at the front of your mind and are likely stressing you out the most.
Quadrant 2: Schedule
Quadrant two is the “schedule” quadrant, and this is where you’ll place any tasks that are not urgent but are still important. Because these tasks affect your long-term goals but don’t need to be done right away, you can schedule these tasks for later. You’ll tackle these tasks right after you tackle the tasks in quadrant one. You can use various time management tips to help you accomplish the tasks in this quadrant.
Quadrant 3: Delegate
Quadrant three is the “delegate” quadrant, and this is where you’ll place any tasks that are urgent but not important. These tasks must be completed now, but they don’t affect your long-term goals. Because you don’t have a personal attachment to these tasks and they likely don’t require your specific skill set to complete, you can delegate these tasks to other members of your team. Delegating tasks is one of the most efficient ways to manage your workload and give your team the opportunity to expand their skill set.
Quadrant 4: Delete
Once you’ve gone through your to-do list and added tasks to the first three quadrants, you’ll notice that a handful of tasks are left over. The tasks left over are tasks that weren’t urgent or important.
These unimportant, non-urgent distractions are simply getting in the way of you accomplishing your goals. Place these remaining items on your to-do list in the fourth quadrant, which is the “delete” quadrant.
Now you know how to manage your tasks based on the urgency and importance. It is best to separate your to-do-list for work and home life, so you can manage your tasks that are suited for the time and place. Hope this helps you to manage your time during accomplishing your tasks. Find more insights like this, visit our website on plabs.id
Source: Asana
