{"id":8739,"date":"2023-01-13T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/?p=8739"},"modified":"2023-05-25T16:45:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T20:45:20","slug":"how-to-make-better-decisions-with-the-eisenhower-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/how-to-make-better-decisions-with-the-eisenhower-box\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Better Decisions with The Eisenhower Box"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"682\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/decision_makingc.jpeg\" alt=\"Woman sitting on a sofa and holding a mug\" class=\"wp-image-15859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/decision_makingc.jpeg 682w, https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/decision_makingc-480x480.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 682px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you need help using the Eisenhower Box to prioritize tasks at work, home, or school?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you looking for a simple decision-making tool that can be used pretty much anywhere?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all know decision-making is an important part of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While big life decisions often get all the attention, it is often the little decisions that determine our ability to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/how-to-get-things-done\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">get things done.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about it for a moment: each and every day you have to make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/time-management-tip-managing-time-during-decision-making-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"How To Manage Your Time When You HAve to Make a Quick Decision\">countless decisions<\/a> about which tasks to work on, and when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What if you could make the process a whole lot easier by putting your tasks into some sort of overall context with one another?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can do just that with the Eisenhower Box!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, you&#8217;ll learn how to make better decisions using the Eisenhower Box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can use this tool to help you make decisions both big and small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All you need is a sheet of paper and a pencil and you\u2019re good to go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on for more details\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Decision-Making 101: What is The Eisenhower Box?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Eisenhower Box, also known as The Eisenhower Matrix, is simple tool that can help you prioritize your tasks and make better decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Eisenhower Box\u2019s namesake is Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States of America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eisenhower was a five-star general in World War II. He later served as president from 1953-1961.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a safe to say Eisenhower made an awful lot of important decisions during his professional career. T<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>he exact origins of The Eisenhower Box are somewhat unclear. It is believed the box is based on an <a href=\"http:\/\/quoteinvestigator.com\/2014\/05\/09\/urgent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">alleged quote by Eisenhower: <\/a>&#8220;What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether or not Eisenhower actually said this, or made decisions using a quadrant box tool, is still up for debate. Regardless, we can still learn how to make better decisions using the Eisenhower Box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, the basic logic of the Eisenhower Box is as follows, 1) identifying the importance of any task, and 2) identifying the urgency of any task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Eisenhower Box presents this is a convenient manner: a large box is divided into four separate and equally-sized quadrants. Each quadrant represents a task\u2019s urgency and importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The quadrant setup is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Urgent and Important<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Not Urgent and Important<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Not Important and Urgent<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Not Important and Not Urgent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For each of the tasks that appear in your life, you must assign it to one of the four quadrants of the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s learn more about each of the quadrants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Components of The Eisenhower Box<a href=\"http:\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8742\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/the_eisenhower_box.jpg\" alt=\"Image of The Eisenhower Box\" width=\"473\" height=\"492\"><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q1. Urgent and Important<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Key types: Emergencies, Deadlines, and Crises<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You need to handle or address these items right away; there\u2019s no time to delay!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a specific timeframe involved and you must take action right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>You were involved in a car accident, injured your head, and need to go to the hospital<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deadline for your college\u2019s scholarship application is in two days<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You have to deal with a billing issue with a client<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q2. Not Urgent and Important<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Key types: Planning, Relaxation including Downtime, Vacation, Rest, Exercise<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These items should be handled, they are not something you have to do right away, but must be completed nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Going to the park to get in your daily run<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Planning an upcoming office event at work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Going to sleep by 10:30 PM each night<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q3. Not Important and Urgent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Key types: Distractions, Interruptions, Meetings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These items will come up and attempt distract you from your most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/why-the-time-you-ignore-is-the-most-important-time-in-your-schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Why the Time You Ignore Is the Most Important&nbsp;Time in Your Schedule\">important work<\/a>, but for the most part, they aren\u2019t things you need to deal with or attend to on a regular basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Certain text messages, emails, and phone calls<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A coworker interrupting a meeting to let you know there is cake in the cafeteria<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A friend stopping by your house to ask if they can borrow a few pieces of clothing from you for an upcoming party<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q4. Not Important and Not Urgent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Key types: Wasting Time, Gossip, Trivial Matters<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are items that are a waste of your time, energy, or resources, or don\u2019t allow you to get things done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Opening up and reading through junk postal mail<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chatting about the boss\u2019 new car with a coworker<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spending the entire afternoon on Facebook<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Make Better Decisions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Eisenhower Box can be a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/time-management-tools-find-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"7 Time Management Tools You Can Find in Your Home\">great tool<\/a> when it comes to making better decisions in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of simply viewing each and every task, distraction, interruption, email, meeting, text, or activity, as urgent and important, you must carefully categorize each in relation to the rest of your tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll have to identify which tasks are truly life and death situations, which ones are not, and which ones fall somewhere in-between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, this does mean you\u2019ll have to stop and plan your actions, but doing so can save you a lot of time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some tips to help you make better decisions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use the Eisenhower Box in your daily routine.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t save the Eisenhower Box for big or ground-breaking decisions in your life. Get into the habit of using it on a frequent basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/scheduling-tasks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"What to Keep in Mind When Scheduling Tasks\">time a task <\/a>comes up at home, work, or at school that appears to be both urgent and important, take a moment to place the task in the proper quadrant. You may be surprised at what you find!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Let honesty be your best policy.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can\u2019t properly identify tasks if you\u2019re using inaccurate details or information. Be 100% honest with yourself when sorting tasks into quadrants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While it may be tempting to place everything into Q1, think carefully about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/how-to-prioritize-tasks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"7 Tips to Help You Prioritize Tasks\">your tasks<\/a> and their relationship to one another. Remember, the point of the exercise is to appropriately rank tasks according to their urgency and importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practice makes perfect.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It takes practice to learn how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/common-productivity-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">properly use any tool<\/a> \u2014Eisenhower Box included. Go easy on yourself and your progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Practice placing tasks into quadrants and thoughtfully review your work. Ask yourself why you placed certain tasks into specific quadrants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, were your decisions made on wishful thinking or were you grounded in reality? The more you practice, the easier it will be to identify and sort tasks into quadrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Put your current schedule in perspective.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, you know you have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/how-to-give-your-busy-work-calendar-a-makeover\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"How to Give Your Busy Work Calendar a Makeover\">busy schedule.<\/a> But are you placing your energies in the right place? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a survey of your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/how-to-simplify-any-schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"How to Simplify Any Schedule\">current schedule<\/a>, calendar, or activities in relation to the Eisenhower Box. Are you spending a good chunk of your time&nbsp; in Q1 and Q2, or are you hanging out too much in Q3 and Q4?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>How about you? Have you ever used the Eisenhower Box to make decisions? Are you going to add it to your list of productivity and time management tools? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full pinterest-hidden\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/eisenhowerbox.png\" alt=\"Woman sitting on a sofa and holding a mug\" class=\"wp-image-15875\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/eisenhowerbox.png 683w, https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/eisenhowerbox-480x720.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 683px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you need help prioritizing tasks at work, home, or school? Are you looking for a simple decision-making tool that can be used pretty much anywhere?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[1287,1288,1087,62,746],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8739"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8739"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24019,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8739\/revisions\/24019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}