They don’t have immediate deadlines, but if neglected, they may well move into the urgent and important quadrant.Īs this work positions a project for success, ideally the bulk of your time is spent working on tasks in this category. ![]() They include things like strategic planning, networking and researching. The tasks in this quadrant lay foundations and build systems. Ideally, however, the tasks in this category don’t usurp all your time. These are consequential tasks that have no workaround, and include things like paying bills and meeting deadlines.Ĭlearly, anything that’s both important and urgent must be completed right away. The tasks that fall into the important and urgent quadrant are critical. Utilizing the method, essentially, means parsing through an assortment of tasks and activities and categorizing them according to these criteria. It’s easy to be allured by “urgent” tasks that have no importance at all, and fail to do things that really matter. In delineating work according to this criteria, Covery drives home the lesson that not everything that’s important is urgent, but more significantly, not everything that’s urgent is important. They contribute to a project’s overall goal. Important works, rather, include tasks that bring value to the business or initiative. These tasks have no workaround if it doesn’t get done, then the lights turn off. Urgent work requires immediate attention. In its simplest form, the matrix is four quadrants that categorizes work according to two criteria: important and urgent. Steven Covey, the renowned businessman and keynote speaker, developed this matrix and its underlying principles in his bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. ![]() ![]() The matrix determines what to work on now, in the present moment, and what to postpone for later. The When, What & How of a Project Priority MatrixĪ priority matrix is helpful whenever you need to sort and prioritize a multitude of diversified tasks, so it works well within teams, for community initiatives and even in personal planning. Want to get in on this project management hack? That’s what we’re going to cover in this post. For many, a four-box grid known as a priority matrix is the ticket to generating the momentum to focus and finish tasks. And just like money, it’s so easy to squander and waste.īut don’t go thinking that productivity and time management are beyond you, because a solution is simpler than you think. The 24 hours we have each day seems like a lot of time, but with deadlines to meet, bills to pay and projects to complete, time quickly becomes a scarce resource. The meaningful, value-adding work sits in the “to do” pile, like laundry waiting to be washed. But sometimes entire days proceed in this fashion, and build into weeks full of bustle and activity where nothing significant ever gets done. If this is one isolated episode, that’s one thing. You haven’t worked out, checked emails, or even had breakfast. Now plot the tasks on the matrix and prioritize efforts accordingly.How to Work Smart (Not Hard) With a Priority Matrixĭo you ever spend an entire morning doing something completely pointless, like cleaning up dog food spilled across the kitchen floor? And then, when you leave for work, nothing is accomplished.Now further divide the tasks into ‘high urgency’ and ‘low urgency’ categories.Assign a priority to each task, mark them as either ‘high priority’ or ‘low priority.When deciding where to place a task on the matrix, ask yourself the question, “What would happen if this task is not accomplished?” After listing out all the tasks, start assessing the importance of each. ![]() Quadrant 4 are time sinks that yield very little value.They may not have a drastic impact on the business but still need to be dealt with right away. Quadrant 3 is for tasks that are urgent but not necessarily important.Quadrant 2 is for long-term strategizing and development, tasks that are not urgent but are still important.The matrix has 4 quadrants, quadrant 1 is for the most urgent, important deadlines.You can invite collaborators to share their inputs on the canvas and have real-time discussions on how to plan and execute the various aspects of a project. Start by opening a priority matrix canvas on Creately.
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