The Urgent/Important Matrix

We've all been there: The project is due for today's meeting and we are only three quarters done. We're anxious, we can't concentrate, everything is a distraction, and then, finally, we blow. Time stressors are the most pervasive source of pressure and stress in the workplace and they happen as a result of having too much to do in too little time.

With this kind of pressure all too common, effective time management is an absolute necessity. You probably use a day-planner and to-do list to manage your time. These tools are certainly helpful, but they don't allow you to drill down to one of the most essential elements of good time management: distinguishing between what is important and what is urgent.

Great time management means being effective as well as efficient. Managing time effectively, and achieving the things that you want to achieve, means spending your time on things that are important and not just urgent. To do this, and to minimize the stress of having too many tight deadlines, you need to understand this distinction:

•   Important activities have an outcome that leads to the achievement of your goals.
•   Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are often associated with the achievement of someone else's goals.

Urgent activities are often the ones we concentrate on. These are the "squeaky wheels that get the grease." They demand attention because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate. The Urgent/Important Matrix is a useful tool for thinking about this.

The Urgent/Important Matrix is a powerful way of thinking about priorities. Using it helps you overcome the natural tendency to focus on urgent activities, so that you can keep clear enough time to focus on what's really important.

The matrix can be drawn as shown in figure 1, with the dimensions of Importance and Urgency.

The steps below help you use the matrix to prioritize your activities:
1. The first step is to list all the activities and projects you feel you have to do. Try to include everything that takes up your time at work, however unimportant.
2. Next, assign importance to each of the activities – you can do this on, say, a scale of 1 to 5: remember, this is a measure of how important the activity is in helping you meet your goals and objectives. Try not to worry about urgency at this stage, as this helps get to the true importance.
3. Once you have assigned importance to each activity, evaluate the urgency of each activity. As you do this, you can plot the listed items on the matrix according to the assigned importance and urgency.
4. Now study the matrix using the strategies described below to schedule your priorities.