Stephen covey priority matrix how to#

This method will help you to plan and prioritize around your most important and high-value tasks, so they don't get crowded out by unnecessary work or sudden distractions. Take note of the image below and use this to examine your work in Ayoa. Famously referenced by Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, this technique divides your tasks into four quadrants along an XY axis, based on their level of Urgency and/or Importance. The Eisenhower Urgent/Important Matrix is a visual approach that makes prioritization simple.

Stephen covey priority matrix how to#

Inversion: rather than consider a task's value, ask what would be the cost of not doing this task to consider its relative importance.Solution home Ayoa FAQ How to use Ayoa like a Pro Ayoa and The Eisenhower Matrix.

Fast and slow thinking: pause and reflect before reacting to urgent, this includes shifting into slow thinking to categorise accurately and with less bias.

Divide and conquer: consider how you break down tasks into subtasks to identify the important elements.

Deep work: use this model to define tasks that would benefit from deep work - most likely those that fall into quadrant 2.

Golden circle: to identify guiding values that help you choose what is actually important.

Opportunity cost: the choice of which quadrant you focus on draws out the opportunity cost of being reactive and focusing on urgent rather important activities.

Pareto principle: in identifying the high value actions for your day or week.

Circle of Influence and concern: another model from Covey also focused on being less reactive but from a different perspective.

Impact effort matrix: a related team based tool to prioritise.Alternatively, discover your own connections by exploring the category list above. Use the following examples of connected and complementary models to weave the Eisenhower matrix into your broader latticework of mental models. The Eisenhower matrix is a productivity and time management tool. Consider how you might get rid of these tasks without investing any time or resources into them. Work that is not important and not urgent must obviously fall to the bottom of your priority list. Consider how you might delegate them, redirect them, or simply get out of them. Urgent but not important tasks are tempting to respond to but are not a good use of your time. This important but not urgent work represents strategic thinking and an opportunity to be proactive in your approach. Ideally, youвЂ™ll reach a position where quadrant 1 remains relatively small and most of your time can be spent in quadrant 2. YouвЂ™re focusing on high-value work but ultimately still in reactive mode. However, if this quadrant is always filled you should be questioning the systems and support you have in place. Tasks that are important and urgent demand for your attention. It might be urgent but how important is it really? If itвЂ™s not important, consider letting it pass and focus on more high-value tasks in the top of the matrix. This model has inspired the Impact Effort Matrix and, like the Circle of Concern and Influence,В is one of several models popularised by Stephen Covey.Д«efore reacting to a task, take a moment to consider where it lies on the Eisenhower Matrix. The Eisenhower Matrix is a productivity and time management model that works well with Kanban boards for personal use and can be implemented by teams as part of Agile Methodology.

It can be used to organise your day, plan your activity for the upcoming month, and even assist teams to plan sprints or project tasks. The matrix helps to move you out of being reactive, to focus on whether a task actually delivers the required value you are looking for. Applied to business it would be the equivalent of focusing your effort on tasks that work вЂonвЂ™ your business, rather than вЂinвЂ™ your business. The aim is to get to a point where you are primarily working in the 'important and not urgent' quadrant as this reflects a more strategic approach. The matrix is named after Dwight D.Eisenhower, who said: вЂњ I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important, and the important are never urgent.вЂќВ It encourages you to categorise tasks based on the criteria of how urgent and important they are and then, despite EisenhowerвЂ™s quote, to prioritise important and urgent tasks. Stephen CoveyвЂ™s Eisenhower Matrix organises your to-do list based on whether tasks are urgent or important to help you focus on high-value strategic tasks. Stressed, busy and not sure what to prioritise? Stephen Covey famously said: 'The key is not to prioritise what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.'