Eisenhower's Urgent/Important Principle - Mind Tools

Eisenhower's Urgent/Important Principle helps you quickly identify the activities that you should focus on, as well as the ones you should ignore. When you use ... MENU JoinMindTools Login SkillAreas Back SkillAreas LeadershipSkills TeamManagement StrategyTools ProblemSolving DecisionMaking ProjectManagement TimeManagement StressManagement CommunicationSkills CreativityTools LearningSkills CareerSkills LearningFormats Back LearningFormats Bite-SizedTraining BookInsights(Audio) CareerCafe ExpertInterviews(Audio) Forums Infographics Learningstreams MindToolsApp MyLearningPlan Quizzes TemplatesandWorksheets Videos ForYourOrganization Newsletter Blog AboutUs HomeTimeManagementPrioritizationEisenhower'sUrgent/ImportantPrinciple BytheMindToolsContentTeam BytheMindToolsContentTeam (294) 294ratings 7MINREADEisenhower'sUrgent/ImportantPrincipleUsingTimeEffectively,NotJustEfficiently ©GettyImagesLittleBee80Whatreallyneedsyourattentionrightnow? Imaginethatyourbosshasaskedyoutoprepareanimportantpresentationforthenextboardmeeting. Youonlyhaveafewdaystoputittogether,yourworkloadisalreadyhigh,andyouhavemanyotherurgenttasksonyourTo-DoList.Becauseofthis,you'reanxious,youcan'tconcentrate,andeverythingseemstodistractyou. Timestressorsaresomeofthemostpervasivesourcesofpressureintheworkplace,andtheyhappenasaresultofhavingtoomuchtodo,intoolittletime.So,howcanyoubeatthisstress,anddeliverthethingsthatareessentialtodoingagoodjob? Eisenhower'sUrgent/ImportantPrinciplehelpsyouthinkaboutyourpriorities,anddeterminewhichofyouractivitiesareimportantandwhichare,essentially,distractions. WhatAre"Urgent"and"Important"Activities? Ina1954speechtotheSecondAssemblyoftheWorldCouncilofChurches,formerU.S.PresidentDwightD.Eisenhower,whowasquotingDrJ.RoscoeMiller,presidentofNorthwesternUniversity,said:"Ihavetwokindsofproblems:theurgentandtheimportant.Theurgentarenotimportant,andtheimportantareneverurgent."This"EisenhowerPrinciple"issaidtobehowheorganizedhisworkloadandpriorities. Herecognizedthatgreattimemanagementmeansbeingeffectiveaswellasefficient.Inotherwords,wemustspendourtimeonthingsthatareimportantandnotjusttheonesthatareurgent.Todothis,andtominimizethestressofhavingtoomanytightdeadlines,weneedtounderstandthisdistinction: Importantactivitieshaveanoutcomethatleadstousachievingourgoals,whethertheseareprofessionalorpersonal. Urgentactivitiesdemandimmediateattention,andareusuallyassociatedwithachievingsomeoneelse'sgoals.Theyareoftentheonesweconcentrateonandtheydemandattentionbecausetheconsequencesofnotdealingwiththemareimmediate. Whenweknowwhichactivitiesareimportantandwhichareurgent,wecanovercomethenaturaltendencytofocusonunimportanturgentactivities,sothatwecanclearenoughtimetodowhat'sessentialforoursuccess.Thisisthewaywemovefrom"firefighting"intoapositionwherewecangrowourbusinessesandourcareers. HowtoUseEisenhower'sPrinciple Tousethisprinciple,listalloftheactivitiesandprojectsthatyoufeelyouhavetodo.Trytoincludeeverythingthattakesupyourtimeatwork,howeverunimportant.(IfyoumanageyourtimeusingaTo-DoList   orActionProgram,   youwillhavedonethisalready.) Next,thinkabouteachactivityandputitintooneoffourcategories,asshowninfigure1,below: Figure1–Eisenhower'sUrgent/ImportantPrinciple   Thenusethestrategiesdescribedbelowtoscheduleyouractivities. 1.ImportantandUrgent Therearetwodistincttypesofurgentandimportantactivities:onesthatyoucouldnothaveforeseen,andothersthatyou'veleftuntilthelastminute. Youcaneliminatelast-minuteactivitiesbyplanningaheadandavoidingprocrastination   . However,youcan'talwayspredictoravoidsomeissuesandcrises.Here,thebestapproachistoleavesometimeinyourscheduletohandleunexpectedissuesandunplannedimportantactivities.(Ifamajorcrisisarises,thenyou'llneedtorescheduleothertasks.) Ifyouhavealotofurgentandimportantactivities,identifywhichoftheseyoucouldhaveforeseen,andthinkabouthowyoucouldschedulesimilaractivitiesaheadoftime,sothattheydon'tbecomeurgent. 2.ImportantbutNotUrgent Thesearetheactivitiesthathelpyouachieveyourpersonalandprofessionalgoals,andcompleteimportantwork. Makesurethatyouhaveplentyoftimetodothesethingsproperly,sothattheydonotbecomeurgent.Also,remembertoleaveenoughtimeinyourscheduletodealwithunforeseenproblems.Thiswillmaximizeyourchancesofkeepingontrack,andhelpyouavoidthestressofworkbecomingmoreurgentthannecessary. 3.NotImportantbutUrgent Urgentbutnotimportanttasksarethingsthatpreventyoufromachievingyourgoals.Askyourselfwhetheryoucanrescheduleordelegate   them. Acommonsourceofsuchactivitiesisotherpeople.Sometimesit'sappropriatetosay"no"topeoplepolitely,ortoencouragethemtosolvetheproblemthemselves.(Ourarticle"'Yes'tothePerson,'No'totheTask"   willhelphere.) FindingThisArticleUseful? Youcanlearnanother63timemanagementskills,likethis,byjoiningtheMindToolsClub. JointheMindToolsClub Today! GettheFreeNewsletter Learnnew careerskillseveryweek,plusgeta bonusTimeManagementworkbook, free!  ReadourPrivacyPolicy Alternatively,trytohavetimeslotswhenyouareavailable,sothatpeopleknowtheycanspeakwithyouthen.Agoodwaytodothisistoarrangeregularmeetingswiththosewhointerruptyouoften,sothatyoucandealwithalltheirissuesatonce.You'llthenbeabletoconcentrateonyourimportantactivitiesforlonger. 4.NotImportantandNotUrgent Theseactivitiesarejustadistraction–avoidthemifpossible. Youcansimplyignoreorcancelmanyofthem.However,somemaybeactivitiesthatotherpeoplewantyoutodo,eventhoughtheydon'tcontributetoyourowndesiredoutcomes.Again,say"no"politely,ifyoucan,andexplainwhyyoucannotdoit. Ifpeopleseethatyouareclearaboutyourobjectivesandboundaries   ,theywilloftenavoidaskingyoutodo"notimportant"activitiesinthefuture. KeyPoints Eisenhower'sUrgent/ImportantPrinciplehelpsyouquicklyidentifytheactivitiesthatyoushouldfocuson,aswellastheonesyoushouldignore. Whenyouusethistooltoprioritizeyourtime,youcandealwithtrulyurgentissues,atthesametimeasyouworktowardsimportant,longer-termgoals. Tousethetool,listallofyourtasksandactivities,andputeachintooneofthefollowingcategories: Importantandurgent. Importantbutnoturgent. Notimportantbuturgent. Notimportantandnoturgent. Thenscheduletasksandactivitiesbasedontheirimportanceandurgency. Infographic ClickontheimagebelowtoseeourinfographiconEisenhower'sUrgent/ImportantPrincipleinfographic: Thissiteteachesyoutheskillsyouneedforahappyandsuccessfulcareer;andthisisjustoneofmany toolsandresourcesthatyou'llfindhereatMindTools.Subscribetoour freenewsletter,or jointheMindToolsClubandreallysuperchargeyourcareer! AddthisarticletoMyLearningPlan MarkarticleasComplete ShowRatings HideRatings Ratings Ratethisresource Freeloginneeded. Login / CreateLogin. JointheMindToolsClubandGet4FreeWorkbooks! TheMindToolsClubgivesyouexclusive tipsand toolstoboostyourcareer-plusafriendlycommunityandsupportfromour careercoaches!  FindOutMore JointheMindToolsClub SignupforourFREEnewsletter Comments(45) Overamonthago Michelewrote HiRowanClifford, Thankyouforyourfeedbackonthearticleandforsharingyourfreetool. Michele MineToolsTeam Overamonthago RowanCliffordwrote Hey,greatarticlebytheway. InoticedafewpeopleinthecommentslookingforatemplateortoolforusingtheEisenhowermethodintheirownlivessoIthoughtI'dsharewithyouatool(andtemplate)I'vedeveloped. Youcanfindoutmorehere:https://rowanclifford.io/eisenhower-method/ It'stotallyfreeofcourse. Cheers. RowanClifford Overamonthago Midgiewrote Higcagalvan, WelcometotheClub. MindToolsdoesnotcurrentlyhaveatemplateorworksheetforusingtheEisenhower'sUrgent/Importantprinciple,yetitwouldbeinterestingtohearmorefromyouabouthowyoumightwanttouseitandhowwecanhelp.WhynotbringyourquestionovertotheForumareaanddiscussideaswithothermembers? We'dlovetoseeyouoverthere. Midgie MindToolsTeam ViewAllComments PreviousArticle Previous NextArticle Next GettheFreeNewsletter Learnnew careerskillseveryweek,plusgeta bonusTimeManagementworkbook, free!  ReadourPrivacyPolicy GettheFreeNewsletter Learnnew careerskillseveryweek,plusgeta bonusTimeManagementworkbook, free!  ReadourPrivacyPolicy Subscribeforunlimitedaccess TheMindToolsClubgivesyouexclusive tipsand toolstoboostyourcareer-plusafriendlycommunityandsupportfromour careercoaches!  JointheClub 1DaytoGo! AllowYourTeamtoLearnFromHome Discover MindToolsforBusiness-empoweringeveryoneinyourorganizationtothriveatworkwithaccesstolearningwhentheyneedit.  FindOutMore 1DaytoGo! RelatedResources FromMindTools TheActionPriorityMatrix References Eisenhower,D.W.(1954)"AddressattheSecondAssemblyoftheWorldCouncilofChurches,Evanston,Illinois,"August19,1954.OnlinebyGerhardPetersandJohnT.Woolley,TheAmericanPresidencyProject.(Availablehere.)  Signup Toprovidefeedback UserResearch We'realwaysstrivingtoimproveyourexperienceontheplatformandwe'dlovetohearyourfeedbackonsomenewandexistingdesigns. Signuphereandgetinvitedtoparticipateinouruserresearch! SponsoredLinks Toolkit LeadershipSkills(60) TeamManagement(310) StrategyTools(144) ProblemSolving(47) DecisionMaking(57) ProjectManagement(65) TimeManagement(64) StressManagement(76) CommunicationSkills(150) CreativityTools(29) LearningSkills(56) CareerSkills(212) MyLearningPlan AddArticletoMyPlan SaveMyPlan RecentlyAdded {{latestItems.length}} {{item.rm_title_short}} {{item.pgr_name}} MyLearningPlanPage FindOutMore GettheFreeNewsletter Learnnew careerskillseveryweek,plusgeta bonusTimeManagementworkbook, free!  ReadourPrivacyPolicy GettheFreeNewsletter Learnnew careerskillseveryweek,plusgeta bonusTimeManagementworkbook, free!  ReadourPrivacyPolicy Processing Pleasewait...