First, you have to know the difference between
Important and Urgent
Important and Not Urgent
Not Important and Urgent
Not Important and Not Urgent
In his best-selling book “The seven Habit of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey introduces the Time Management Matrix:
Quadrant 1: The important and urgent items that need to be dealt with immediately. The best example of this is when nature calls. You need to go to the restroom ASAP. Another example is when you need to put out fires at the office due to problems that got bigger because it wasn’t addressed at the onset.
Quadrant 2: The important but not urgent items that don’t require your immediate attention. This is where you deal with things that are important to your values and goals. This is the quadrant that you need to plan for. The urgent things are usually what keep us away from doing the important things. THIS IS THE QUADRANT WE SHOULD FOCUS ON.
Quadrant 3: The unimportant and urgent items that should be minimized or if possible, eliminated from our list. A good way to avoid this is through planning and delegation.
Quadrant 4: The unimportant and not urgent items, the time wasters.
As you focus your time on Quadrant II, it keeps you aware that picking tasks on a day-to-day basis should be aligned to help your future.
Remember that putting the most important things first every day is the purpose of time management. For me, reading the Bible and praying to God is my best Quadrant II activity daily. It keeps me aware that God is in control of everything including time.