The Eisenhower Matrix: focus more, stress less, collaborate better!

In its simplest possible form there are two traits that make a truly great agency: fantastic client experience and profitability. Or any business for that matter...!

At Nzime we’ve worked hard to create efficient and effective processes and systems that make sure we’re not only servicing our clients splendidly, but also allow us as a business to be nimble.

Our Project Management team has already written blogs on the importance of these processes and what they should achieve. However, stripping that away there are more fundamental skills we can all employ to be more effective, strategic and productive in the decisions we make everyday.

Without these core skills all the process in the world will only take you so far.

We all live in a fast paced world: filled with deadlines, curveballs, roadblocks and fires to put out. So how can we minimise distraction, harness focus and properly understand priorities in this whirlwind? Put simply, how can we manage time better to prevent us feeling overwhelmed?

It seems that the 34th President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower had the answer…

At Nzime we employ the Eisenhower Matrix to help our teams focus more, stress less and of course collaborate better. And it means we can ditch the poster stating it has been XX days since someone last threw a stapler…

The matrix focuses on how we organise our everyday simple tasks, and decide how to take action. It does this by considering the Urgency vs Importance of each task.

1. Urgent & important: Do these. Fires to be put out, mission critical tasks that need to be dealt with immediately.

2. Important, not urgent: Plan these. These are the tasks that ultimately drive a business forward - directly feeding into the mission, vision and values of an organisation. Diaritise and plan to do these tasks, and don’t let things distract you from them!

3. Urgent, not important: Delegate these. It’s easy to mistake these for Urgent & Important tasks. Someone shouting the loudest doesn’t necessarily mean it’s important. We all lose a lot of vital time to these tasks, mistaking them for Important and dropping everything. Delegate, push back or plan these tasks later - don’t let them distract you!

4. Not Urgent or Important: Eliminate these. Stop looking at videos of cats on the internet! Although, every now and again it’s important to roll up your sleeves, close your laptop and play some serious air hockey!*

Sounds easy right? Well in practice, when you’re in the thick of it, it can be difficult to tell the difference between Urgent and Important - especially for more junior staff, where this can help dramatically.

“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

What’s even harder is questioning whether you should be doing a task in the first place. It’s often easier to just do something and get it off your desk than it is to question and potentially eliminate the need for it. Should I be doing this? Should someone else be doing this? Should this be done at all?

Take a breathe after every request, call, brief or email. Consider Importance vs Urgency. Resist the urge to leap up from your chair, disturbing potentially Important work - yours and others! Take control of your tasks and your productivity…!

*Disclaimer: we understand that the Nzime Air Hockey League is both Urgent & Important…