4 box priority matrix
![4 box priority matrix 4 box priority matrix](http://www.velaction.com/lean-information/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/9-square.gif)
How we feel: When we spend a lot of time in this quadrant we become stressed and burned out.Īction: Minimise the time spent in this quadrant by prioritizing, planning and delegating ie. This can be anything from an overdue project or report to customer complaints, a severe bottleneck or broken business process right through to a burst pipe or a health issue like a toothache that hasn't been dealt with! What: Tasks that fall into this quadrant include deadlines, urgent meetings, pressing problems, crises and fire-fighting. Quadrant 1 - Crises or "Important AND Urgent" Tasks So, let's take a more detailed look at the individual Urgent Important Matrix quadrants:
![4 box priority matrix 4 box priority matrix](https://s3.amazonaws.com/prod_pm_files/6e/75/22/87/11/cf/35/5f/Critical%20Urgent.png)
What do we mean here by Important and Urgent? Quadrant 4 - Distractions - NOT URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT.Quadrant 3 - Interruptions - URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT.Quadrant 2 - Goals and Planning - NON-URGENT and IMPORTANT.Quadrant 1 - Crises - URGENT and IMPORTANT.Using a simple grid, it defines tasks according to their importance and urgency:
![4 box priority matrix 4 box priority matrix](https://www.clientsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/customer-success-segmentation-strategies.jpg)
He is quoted as saying, "What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important." It was Dr Stephen Covey (of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" fame) who took these concepts mainstream, calling it The Urgent Important Matrix in his famous book. Well, Former US President Eisenhower used this so-called "Eisenhower Principle" to organize his tasks. Wouldn't it be nice to ride the wave, rather than the other way around? It's also a great model to share with youth and anyone who is disorganized to help them be more focused - and it's a compelling experiential tool to use in a workshop or seminar. It's great for a wide spectrum of coaches from career, executive and business coaching to life and even spiritual coaching. The Urgent Important Matrix is a powerful productivity and time management tool to help people manage their time more effectively.