The Urgent/Important Matrix
 

Using Time Effectively, Not Just Efficiently

We’ve all been there: The project is due for today’s meeting and we are only three quarters done. Our anxiety is at its peak, we can’t concentrate, everything is a distraction, and then, finally, we blow… Time stressors are the most pervasive source of pressure and stress in the workplace and they happen as a result of having too much to do in too little time.

With this kind of pressure all too common, effective time management is an absolute necessity. You probably use a day-planner and to-do list to manage your time. These tools are certainly helpful, but they don’t allow you to drill down to one of the most essential elements of good time management: Distinguishing between what is important and what is urgent.

Great time management means being effective as well as efficient. Managing time effectively, and achieving the things that you want to achieve, means spending your time on things that are important and not just urgent. To do this, and to minimize the stress of having too many tight deadlines, you need to distinguish clearly between what is urgent and what is important:

• Important activities have an outcome that leads to the achievement of your goals.
• Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are usually associated with the achievement of someone else’s goals, or with an uncomfortable problem or situation that needs to be resolved.

Urgent activities are often the ones we concentrate on. These are the “squeaky wheels that get the grease.” They demand attention because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate.