Mastering Productivity: A Student’s Guide to the Eisenhower Matrix
When you’re a student with big goals and college dreams, you must learn how to manage your time. With regular classwork, independent studies, exam preps and extracurriculars vying for your attention, it is easy to get overwhelmed.
Are you ready to supercharge your productivity and unload a little stress? The Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful tool that can help you prioritize your tasks and focus on what truly matters.
What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix takes its moniker from the famously productive 34th President of the United States. But it is also known as the “Urgent-Important Matrix,” because it is designed to help people rethink their plans and prioritize their time based on what’s most important and what’s not, and what’s urgent compared to what can wait.
How do you start? Get a blank piece of paper and divide it into four quadrants. You then place everything that you have on your goal list into one of these quadrants according to the following rules:
Quadrant 1: These are the tasks that are both urgent and important.
Make sure that you take a hard look at what you assign here, and don’t confuse urgency with importance, because they’re not the same thing. These are the things that require your immediate focus and need to be prioritized above all others, such as papers with imminent deadlines, crucial classwork assignments and any emergencies. This is your “Do” (and do it now) list.
- For example: Your final exam is just two days away, and you haven’t started studying. This is an urgent and important task that requires your immediate attention. You need to allocate time to study, create a study plan and get prepared for the exam.
Quadrant 2: These are tasks that are important – but not urgent.
Important but not urgent tasks are largely your long-term goals and anything that contributes to them and your overall success, but they aren’t time sensitive. This can include skills you want to develop, building relationships with your mentors and learning more about the careers in your field of interest. This is your “Decide” list, meaning you must decide where they fit in your plans and then start working on them before they become urgent.
- For example: You have a major research project due at the end of the semester. While the deadline isn’t imminent, working on the project consistently over time will give you better results than trying to get it all done in a mad rush just before the due date. Allocate regular time in your schedule for research, outlining, and writing to ensure you produce a high-quality project without last-minute stress.
Quadrant 3: These are urgent – but they aren’t truly important.
Tasks in this quadrant are urgent but lack long-term importance. They often involve other people’s priorities, so they don’t really have to engage you or take up your time. Whenever possible, these are the items on your “Delegate” list.
- For example: A classmate asks for your help with a minor task related to a group project, but you have an upcoming individual assignment that needs your attention. If there’s someone else in the group who can help, that frees up at least some of your time for bigger priorities.
Quadrant 4: These are the things that are neither urgent nor important.
Basically, these are timewasters and distractions, or anything that steals your time but doesn’t contribute to your goals. This is your “Delete” list, so you need to consciously cut them out of your life.
- For example: Do you spend hours mindlessly scrolling through social media or playing video games when you should be studying? These do nothing for you in the context of your academic progress and personal development. Wean yourself away from activities like these because they’re just timewasters.
By systematically categorizing and prioritizing your tasks, you will gain more insight into the path toward your goals and assume greater control over your time – and that’s the ultimate key to being productive. Time management is a skill like any other, and it can be learned. So, start practicing today for a better academic (and overall) future.
