I’m going to share a technique that made a huge difference in my life by saving me time, effort, and energy consistently.
The first time I came across this technique was in “The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey who in turn was inspired by Dwight D. Eisenhower, our 34th President of the United States.
President Eisenhower was quite accomplished who not only helped defeat the Nazi’s, end the Korean War, establish the Federal Highway System, founded NASA, held back the communists during the Cold War and so much more … he left us with the Eisenhower Matrix (As if ‘saving the world’ wasn’t enough, ehh?).
The Eisenhower Matrix is simply a quadrant broken into:
Important and Urgent
Important but Not Urgent
Not Important but Urgent
Not Important and Not Urgent
By using this model, Eisenhower consistently escaped the trap most business owners and CEOs face by doing what was important and urgent.
I’m sure you know what trap I’m speaking of… it’s fighting ‘fire’ after ‘fire’ all day long… even though these ‘fires’ fall outside of the ‘Important and Urgent’ block.
The fact is, most of what we do is unnecessary and / or drives very little results … even though it doesn’t feel that way at the moment.
But by slowing down for a few seconds, evaluating the tasks with the Eisenhower Matrix, you enable yourself to see things clearly and take appropriate action.
So the next time you find yourself stressing about the giant list of to-do’s – take a deep breath, draw a simple matrix, and ask yourself ‘What would Eisenhower do?’
And by doing so, you just might realize that the most productive thing you can do, however ironic it is, is either letting someone else do it, or not having it done at all.
