Time cannot be managed. Time rolls on at a steady pace. The real challenge is not to manage time but to manage yourself, to gain control over your time and the events in your life by seeing how they relate to your mission. The time management matrix (as shown in the illustration) is a very useful tool to help make your job easier. As you can see, a time management matrix is made up of four quadrants, namely “important and urgent” “important but not urgent”“ not important but urgent” and“ not important and not urgent”.
The first quadrant requires you to list all of your important and urgent tasks and responsibilities, which must be dealt with right away. This quadrant screams for our attention because of its urgent and consequential nature. By spending all our time here, we become consumed with firefighting everyday instead of crisis prevention. We often see advertising executives and accountants being consumed by the contents of this quadrant.
The second quadrant contains important but not urgent items. They are often neglected so that Q-2 tasks often don’t become urgent until it is too late. However, the items listed here may help you to reach your goals and establish your priorities. Imagine you are a secretary whose dream is to be a manager. While working as a secretary, you might start studying for a degree in management. Though this may take a few years, it is only a matter of time before you realize your dream if you ensure that you do spend the appropriate amount of time studying.
The third quadrant is for tasks and responsibilities that are urgent but not important. They can be distractions that take time away from issues that are more pressing. Some people spend a lot of time dealing with Q-3 tasks and confusing them with Q-1 tasks. For example, you may be spending a lot of time writing unnecessary reports, or you may be attending meetings to which you can add no value. Many times, the urgency of the Q-3 tasks is due to others’ priorities or needs.
The fourth quadrant is for the things that are neither important nor urgent. It is also called the Quadrant of Waste, including random web surfing, re-watching drama series, shopping and playing games. This quadrant adds no value to our lives whatsoever other than brain numbing relaxation. Focusing on it results in irresponsible behavior and dependency on other people.
Classifying all the activities of a typical day into their respective quadrants will help you to easily decide where to spend your time and effort. By using the time management matrix, you will take a great step to your goal.