Figuring Out What's Urgent v What's Important
“I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower.
You are about to read (Not a) Newsletter, a newsletter published three times a month covering productivity tips and tools, (life) hacks, and a lot of tea. This newsletter is sustained by paid subscribers who make one episode free monthly. To subscribe as a Non-Nigerian reader, use the subscription button below. As a Nigerian reader, subscription costs N1,000/month (N600 for secondary school and undergraduate students with proof of studentship) or N10,000/annum (N7,000/annum for students), and you can make direct payments to 0759829842, Access Bank Plc; send proof of payment to akinyemimuhammed@gmail.com.
This is going to be a free episode. It is going to be short. And the only reason I am not voicing it is that saying Eisenhower multiple times is not easy for me as a Yoruba person.
You know Eisenhower, right? Two-time American President? World War II 5-star-General? Created America’s Space Agency, NASA, and did some other cool stuff? Dwight D. Eisenhower?
He was one of those people who seemingly had more than 24 hours in a day. He was a master of his time and a mobile productivity hack.
How did Eisenhower achieve so much daily for most of his productive adult life?
Eisenhower Matrix
It’s a combination of things. it’s always a combination of things. But one thing stood out and would eventually have tons of things written about it (including this one you are reading), and it is called the Eisenhower Matrix.
Asana explains simply that “the Eisenhower Matrix is a task management tool that helps you organise and prioritise tasks by urgency and importance. Using the tool, you’ll divide your tasks into four boxes based on the tasks you’ll do first, the tasks you’ll schedule for later, the tasks you’ll delegate, and the tasks you’ll delete.”
“Who can define for us with accuracy the difference between the long and short term! Especially whenever our affairs seem to be in crisis, we are almost compelled to give our first attention to the urgent present rather than to the important future.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961 address to the Century Association
Usage
While Eisenhower had time for a lot of important things, he did not have time to formulate his simple philosophy into a guide.
It was Stephen Covey, in his best-selling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, who turned Eisenhower’s private philosophy into a guide that helps to prioritise tasks. The principle is sometimes called the “mere-urgency” effect because a lot of things that we think are urgent are only superficially so.
To use the matrix, write a to-do list (yes, everything starts with a to-do list). Now plot your to-do list against these four boxes (honesty is important):
Basically:
If it’s urgent and important, do it now (e.g. time-bound presentation in the office);
If it’s urgent and not important, delegate (e.g. picking up a delivery that someone else can do for you);
If it’s not urgent but important, schedule it (again, picking up delivery but of sensitive material);
If it’s not urgent and not important, delete it (being on Instagram 24/7; some things on this quadrant may not necessarily be deleted but reduced or relegated to extra time, if you have any left).
TEA
If you want to know more about Eisenhower’s Matrix, here are reading resources for you:
Later today, the documentary I made of my investigative reporting trip to Port Harcourt on the soot crisis will be published by HumAngle. If you have not read the original story or want to re-read it, you can read it here. To catch the video when it debuts, please subscribe to the HumAngle YouTube channel and turn on post notifications.
And for August, here is my photo dump:
Until the next NAN, be kind to yourself and the world around you; be patient with yourself and others; love yourself and the people around you; do not give up on things that matter to you unless giving up will provide you more peace and security.