One simple trick for better time-management

We are so engrossed in the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life that we often forget the difference between what’s important and what’s not. I struggled a lot to finish things that actually matter. We do not realize and weeks and months pass by. If you feel the same then there is a simple way to fix this. I use this trick in my day-to-day life. I hope it will help you too.

Before we go further we need to understand the concept of “IMPORTANT” and “URGENT”.

Important (Subjective)

We can call something important when it matters to us. Everyone gives different values to different things. Hence something that may be important to me may not be equally important to you.

Urgent (Objective)

If something is urgent, then it is urgent irrespective of a person’s belief or opinion. Urgent things demand immediate attention and action. Whether we give it that attention or action is totally upon us.

Time Management using Eisenhower Matrix

Now that we have understood the two main concepts required for time management, we can move further. We will now try to understand a method that uses a time-management matrix called Eisenhower Matrix. This method was popularized by Steven Covey in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. 

Using the Eisenhower Urgent Important Matrix we can classify a task as whether or not they are urgent and/or important.  When we do this classification we get 4 categories of tasks as mentioned below.

1. DO IT – Important & Urgent

Things that matter to us and we need to act upon them immediately. We should have as few of these tasks as possible. These things are important and cannot be ignored no matter how stressed we are. We need to DO IT whenever it pops up. Therefore we should try to reduce these tasks to zero by taking proactive measures if possible. 

For example

1.a. Medical emergencies cannot be ignored but if we do regular exercise then we can have better health and reduce risk of medical issues. 

1.b. Study before exams cannot be ignored but if we study a couple hours daily then we can reduce burning ourselves out on the last night before exams.

2. SCHEDULE – Important & Not-Urgent

Things that matter to us but we can act upon them as per our convenience. We should plan our day so that we spend our time doing these things. We should not procrastinate but SCHEDULE these things in advance so that we keep doing the things that matter without them becoming an urgent issue. 

For example

2.a. Exercising daily is important but if we ignore our health for a long period of time then we will end up with several health issues. Therefore we should schedule to accommodate exercise in our routine to ensure a healthy life. 

2.b. Relationships are important and we should spend good time to make them stronger. If we take relationships for granted then we lose trust, cultivate misunderstanding and agitation. Therefore we should schedule ourselves so that we spend a good amount of time with our friends, family and significant others.

3. DELEGATE – Not Important & Urgent

Things that do not matter to us in our life but they demand immediate action & attention. When possible we should DELEGATE these to others. 

For example: 

3.a. Selecting food from the menu at a restaurant is usually not the important thing but urgent. If we delegate this simple task of choosing the food items then we can spend more quality time with others.

4. ELIMINATE – Not Important & Not Urgent

Things that do not matter and we do not have to act on them. We should simply ELIMINATE these things from our to do lists. They will consume our time without making our life better.

For example:

4.a. Spam calls and emails can consume a significant amount of our time. Whenever possible we should simply choose to eliminate these things from our life.

Conclusion

I hope this trick will help you towards better time management. I follow it and hope you would do the same. Feel free to put your thoughts in the comments section below. Thanks for reading.