What the Eisenhower matrix is
The Eisenhower matrix (also called the urgent-important matrix, the Eisenhower box or Covey's time management matrix) is a two-by-two grid. One axis asks whether a task is urgent, the other whether it is important, and keeping the two questions apart is the whole trick: most to-do lists quietly rank by urgency alone. Each of the four boxes gets its own instruction.
| Box | What to do and what goes there |
|---|---|
| DoUrgent and importantCovey's Quadrant I | Do it today, yourself. Crises, pressing problems, work with a real deadline in the next day or two.Watch for: If most of your list lands here, your urgency test is too loose, or Schedule work has been left until it turned into a crisis. |
| ScheduleImportant, not urgentCovey's Quadrant II | Put a date and a time on it. Planning, preparation, learning, exercise, relationships, preventing tomorrow's crises.Watch for: Nothing here ever shouts, so it gets crowded out. A task without a calendar slot is still just a wish. |
| DelegateUrgent, not importantCovey's Quadrant III | Hand it off, batch it, or shrink it. Interruptions, many messages and meetings, other people's priorities that arrive with a deadline attached.Watch for: It feels productive because it is urgent. If nobody can take it, do the smallest acceptable version in one batch. |
| DeleteNeither urgent nor importantCovey's Quadrant IV | Drop it, or keep it only as a deliberate break. Busywork, mindless scrolling, tasks that stay on the list out of habit.Watch for: Real rest is not Quadrant IV. A planned break you enjoy is worth scheduling; drifting into a feed is what belongs here. |
Do, Schedule, Delegate and Delete are the common modern labels, not Eisenhower's or Covey's wording; Covey numbered the boxes I to IV. Example contents follow Covey's Time Matrix as summarised by the Franklin Planner blog.
Where "urgent vs important" comes from
The idea is older than the grid. On August 19, 1954, addressing the World Council of Churches in Evanston, Illinois, Dwight D. Eisenhower quoted "a former college president":
“I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
He never named the college president and did not claim the line as his own. The smoother version usually quoted today ("what is important is seldom urgent") came later, and Quote Investigator found no evidence that Eisenhower himself sorted his work into a matrix. His name was attached to the method afterwards.
The four-quadrant version people use was popularised by Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (first published in 1989), under Habit 3, "Put First Things First". In FranklinCovey's own summary, urgency depends on how soon something needs to be done, importance on whether it contributes to your mission, values and high-priority goals, and the best return on your time is the important work that is not yet urgent: the Schedule box. Covey's point was that this box gets crowded out, not that the Do box is where you should live.
How to use the Eisenhower matrix
- 1
Dump the whole list first
Paste everything into the box above, one task per line, without sorting as you go. A list you are still adding to is hard to rank. Our brain dump guide covers the capture step.
- 2
Ask the urgency question on its own
Is there a real deadline or consequence in the next day or two? "Someone wants it now" is urgency; "it feels pressing" often is not.
- 3
Ask the importance question on its own
Does it move a goal, value or responsibility you would still care about in a month? Answer it without looking at the deadline.
- 4
Drag each task into its box
Urgent and important goes to Do, important only to Schedule, urgent only to Delegate, neither to Delete. Stuck on one? Leave it in Unsorted and come back.
- 5
Act on each box differently
Do: today, yourself. Schedule: give it a date and a time now. Delegate: hand it off, batch it or do a smaller version. Delete: cross it out and let it go.
- 6
Print it and redo it weekly
Print the sheet or save it as a PDF, keep it where you work, and rebuild it at your weekly review. Tasks move boxes as deadlines approach.
Related: the brain dump technique, how to do a weekly review and time blocking vs to-do lists (where Schedule tasks get their slot).
Why the urgent box keeps winning
Eisenhower matrix examples
Three short lists, sorted. They are illustrations of the reasoning, not rules: the same task can land in a different box for a different person.
A Monday at work
Eight things on the list before 9am, and all of them feel like today.
| Task | Box | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fix the invoice error the client flaggedMoney and a relationship are on the line this week. | Do | Money and a relationship are on the line this week. |
| Finish slides for Wednesday's reviewReal deadline in two days, and only you can present them. | Do | Real deadline in two days, and only you can present them. |
| Draft next quarter's project planShapes the next three months, but nobody is asking for it yet. Book Thursday morning. | Schedule | Shapes the next three months, but nobody is asking for it yet. Book Thursday morning. |
| Book the overdue dentist check-upMatters, will not break today. A five-minute call, but put it on the calendar or it slides again. | Schedule | Matters, will not break today. A five-minute call, but put it on the calendar or it slides again. |
| Reply to the meeting-room booking threadSomeone wants an answer now, but any attendee can sort the room. | Delegate | Someone wants an answer now, but any attendee can sort the room. |
| Fill in the team lunch pollHas a deadline, changes nothing. Ten seconds in the afternoon email batch. | Delegate | Has a deadline, changes nothing. Ten seconds in the afternoon email batch. |
| Reorganise the shared drive foldersFeels like progress, has no deadline and no goal behind it this month. | Delete | Feels like progress, has no deadline and no goal behind it this month. |
| Read the industry newsletter backlogArchive it. Anything important will come round again. | Delete | Archive it. Anything important will come round again. |
A freelancer with no one to delegate to
Delegate still works solo: it means batch it, automate it or do less of it.
| Task | Box | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Send the overdue invoiceCash flow, and only you can send it. | Do | Cash flow, and only you can send it. |
| Update the portfolio site with two new projectsThis is how the next client finds you. Block two hours on Friday. | Schedule | This is how the next client finds you. Block two hours on Friday. |
| Answer five quick client emailsUrgent to them, routine for you. One 20-minute batch, not five interruptions. | Delegate | Urgent to them, routine for you. One 20-minute batch, not five interruptions. |
| Try a new invoicing appThe current one works. Revisit when it actually costs you time. | Delete | The current one works. Revisit when it actually costs you time. |
A student in exam week
When the deadline itself is important, the urgent and important box is full by design.
| Task | Box | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Revise for Thursday's examThe highest-stakes item with the nearest date. | Do | The highest-stakes item with the nearest date. |
| Start the essay due in three weeksImportant, not yet urgent. Put a first-draft hour in the diary, or it becomes next month's Do. | Schedule | Important, not yet urgent. Put a first-draft hour in the diary, or it becomes next month's Do. |
| Group chat about the weekendSomeone else can organise it. Reply once, tonight. | Delegate | Someone else can organise it. Reply once, tonight. |
| Recolour the revision notesFeels like studying, is not studying. | Delete | Feels like studying, is not studying. |
How this tool works
- Adding: paste or type tasks one per line and they land in Unsorted. List bullets, numbers and checkboxes from a copied list are stripped. You can also type straight into any box.
- Sorting: drag a task by its grip handle with a mouse, press and drag it on a touch screen, or use its Move menu. From the keyboard, focus the grip handle and press 1 to 4 (Do, Schedule, Delegate, Delete), 0 for Unsorted, or the arrow keys to step between boxes.
- Editing: double-click a task, press Enter on its handle or use the pencil. Tick the checkbox to strike a task through when it is done.
- Printing: one landscape page on Letter or A4 with 10 mm margins, white background, a coloured rule per box and blank ruled lines for adding tasks by hand. Choose Save as PDF in your browser's print dialog to keep a file.
- Saving: your list is stored in this browser's local storage only. There is no account and nothing is sent to a server; clearing your browser data clears the matrix.
OVERWHELMED
The Trash Pile
Dump every task on paper. Cross off everything that's not truly urgent.
~5 min
Pair it with a Brain Deck card
The Delete box is the one people skip. The Trash Pile card is that step on its own: dump every task on paper, then cross off everything that is not truly urgent, in about five minutes, for the days a full matrix feels like too much.
The Brain Deck is in production: 54 cards, no app. Pull a free sample card
Questions
What is the Eisenhower matrix?
A two-by-two grid that sorts tasks by two separate questions: is it urgent, and is it important? That gives four boxes: Do (urgent and important), Schedule (important, not urgent), Delegate (urgent, not important) and Delete (neither).
Did Eisenhower invent the Eisenhower matrix?
Not as far as anyone has shown. In a 1954 speech Eisenhower quoted a former college president: "I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important." The four-quadrant grid was popularised by Stephen Covey's 1989 book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and the matrix was named after Eisenhower later.
What is the difference between urgent and important?
Urgent is about time: something needs attention soon or the chance is gone. Important is about results: it moves a goal, value or responsibility you would still care about in a month. A ringing phone is urgent; a plan for next quarter is important.
What if I have no one to delegate to?
Read Delegate as "do less of it": batch those tasks into one short slot, automate them, say no, or do the smallest acceptable version. The point is that urgent-but-unimportant work should not get your best hours.
Why does everything on my list feel urgent?
Urgency pulls on its own. In five experiments published in 2018, people picked lower-payoff tasks over higher-payoff ones when the smaller task merely looked time-limited. A 2023 replication found the effect weaker once confounds were removed, but still there.
Is there a free Eisenhower matrix template I can print?
Yes: the tool on this page. Type or paste your tasks, sort them into the four boxes, then press Print or save as PDF. It prints on a white background on Letter or A4, and your list stays saved in this browser.
Sorted your week and want to make one Schedule task stick? Make a printable habit tracker for it.
Sources
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Address at the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Evanston, Illinois (August 19, 1954)The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara. Used for: The verbatim urgent-versus-important line, the date and place, and that Eisenhower credited it to an unnamed former college president.
- Quote Origin: What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent and What Is Urgent Is Seldom ImportantQuote Investigator (posted 2014-05-09, updated 2025). Used for: The 1954 speech is the earliest evidence; the popular 'seldom' wording came later; no evidence Eisenhower himself used a matrix.
- Habit 3: Put First Things FirstFranklinCovey. Used for: Covey's two factors (urgency depends on how soon something must be done; importance on mission, values and high-priority goals) and that not-urgent-but-important work is the best return on time.
- Intro to Habit 3 & The Time Matrix (pg. 168-177)Franklin Planner blog, 2025-02-17. Used for: What Covey puts in Quadrants I to IV (crises; planning and relationships; interruptions and other people's priorities; time-wasters) and that he calls Quadrant II the heart of effective personal management.
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleWikipedia. Used for: First publication year of Covey's book (1989).
- Zhu, Yang & Hsee (2018). The Mere Urgency EffectJournal of Consumer Research 45(3): 673–690. Used for: In five experiments, people chose lower-payoff tasks over higher-payoff ones when the low-payoff task merely looked time-limited.
- Mills (2023). Essays on time allocation (PhD thesis)University of Nottingham repository. Used for: Four replication experiments: the mere urgency effect shrank significantly once design confounds were controlled, but remained.
Last checked: October 26, 2026. Covey's book itself was not available to us online; its quadrant contents come from FranklinCovey's pages and the Franklin Planner blog cited above. This page is general information about planning your work. How we research.
Analog tools for sorting your week
