How an American President Can Help You Eliminate the Unnecessary from Your Life

A simplistic way to prioritize your Life.

Dwight David Eisenhower achieved the rank of five-star general in the United States Army. As a politician, he served as the thirty-fourth president of the US, holding office from 1953 to 1961. He had a unique way of prioritizing tasks that ensured he spent time doing necessary things rather than wasting time on unnecessary and fruitless items.

Eisenhower ranked tasks and commitments according to their level of importance and urgency. You might do this to some degree. You know you need to do laundry sometime in the next few days. It will eventually be very important, but right now, some things could make better use of your time.

Maybe you're cooking dinner. You get on the phone with a friend. Performing multiple tasks to prepare your meal has you moving throughout the kitchen. Your friend asks you a question that requires you to leave the kitchen for a second to get the answer. You recommended a book and can't remember the name, so you head into the living room to get that information.

Before you know it, the two of you are chatting about the author, and your distraction has temporarily made you forget what's in your oven or on your stove. You sit down on your sofa and continue the conversation. Then an odor wafts over to you from the kitchen, and you realize you need to check on what you're cooking before it becomes a disaster.

That's something that is extremely urgent and important. And it needs to be tended to immediately.

Introducing the Eisenhower Matrix

Prioritizing tasks or responsibilities requires placing them in four different categories.

Urgent and Important

This is what we just talked about. The dinner boiling away on your stove or about to burn up in your oven requires a sense of urgency. You need to check on it immediately. Is it important? It's extremely important unless you want to smoke ups your house and ruin dinner.

Important, but Not Urgent

These are the essential things in your life. They don't have to be done today or tomorrow, but they will need to be handled eventually. Put these on your scheduler or in your planner. For example, it’s time for you annual physical so you set a reminder to make the appointment with your doctor.

Urgent but Not Important

Somebody has to deal with this right away. However, you don't have to be involved. You can delegate these tasks to someone you know will responsibly take care of them right now. Your car is past due for an oil change so you give your college-aged son whose home for the summer the task of getting it taken care of.

Neither Urgent nor Important

This doesn't have to get done shortly; quite frankly, if it never happens, it's not that big of a deal. These are unnecessary tasks, responsibilities, and commitments. Stop scheduling them as soon as you can. There’s a book you’ve been trying to read for the past few months, but life keeps getting in the way. It’s not urgent or important that you read the book anytime soon so you make a mental note to start it when you get some downtime.

The Eisenhower Matrix can help you create a happier and more fulfilled life experience. You end up spending time on things that will positively impact your life. And you eliminate unnecessary, time-wasting activities that keep you from attending to the essential areas of your life. Use it regularly to start accomplishing goals and dreams that you haven't been able to realize in the past.

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If you liked this content, check out my article entitled, “10 Questions to Assess Personal Health Goals” at: https://www.theunreliablemind.com/blog/how-to-assess-personal-health-goals

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