Priorities Pothole
October 17, 2011
So last week I was reading about the history of time management. Yes…I realize that topic may bore others, but I love stuff like that. And I learned something I didn’t know.
Most of us are familiar with Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix. The matrix shows us the 4 quadrants where we spend our time:
QI: Urgent and Important
QII: Not Urgent but Important (frequently called the ‘Results Quadrant’)
QIII: Urgent but Not Important
QIV: Not Urgent Not Important
(In the early years, it took me a while before I got all those straight.)
In reading the history, I learned that this matrix was around long before Covey. It was developed by former President Dwight Eisenhower and then popularized by Covey 30 years later.
When I first started in this business clients were saying they had difficulty identifying their priorities which was cause for worry because priorities are what drive goal accomplishment. I’ve always said that the power of the matrix was the ability to quickly see where you are spending your time. And if that time is not spent aligned with your priorities you know it pretty quickly. Covey did that by consistently pointing to the importance of Quadrant II activitites. The matrix gives us a shorthand method of identifying what’s important. That’s what Eisenhower intended it to be…and remember, technology wasn’t in the equation.
I rarely hear reference to the matrix any more. There is an entire generation who isn’t familiar with it. Now I hear ‘I know what my priorities are, I can’t get to them’. Something shifted between the 1950′s and today. Perhaps technology. Perhaps workloads. Perhaps mindsets. But working on priorities is still the most important thing you should do on a daily basis. Doing so is what gets you to your goal. But if you fail to have an emotional anchor connected to your goal, anything and everything will get in the way of achieving that goal.
So matrix or not, the question remains…are you working on what’s important every single day no matter what? Or are you letting other less important things get in the way?
February 8, 2012 at 10:44 am
Cynthia, I would like to hear your comments/suggestions about those of us individual entrepreneurs — a one-woman (or man) business. Ideas for productivity and time management? BTW, I loved your review of the Time Mgmt quadrant as a reminder about thinking before just “doing” to get the right things done.
February 8, 2012 at 11:24 pm
Tina, time management is the same for all of us, corporate employees, small business owners, nonprofit staff and solopreneurs. The challenge with one man/woman bands is that you wear lots of hats–sales, marketing, accounting, customer service and oh…delivery of your service or product! The most important thing you can do to stay on track was mentioned in the article.
First, identify your goal and make sure you have some type of emotional ‘connect’ to it.
Then identify your daily priority–the MOST important thing you have to do–and do it. Before email. Before watering the plants. Before other busy projects. Once it’s done, your mind doesn’t get clogged with what you ‘haven’t done’. It’s about moving your mindset and making sure the MOST important thing gets done daily, without all the stress and worry.
If you’re consistent with this behavior, you set yourself up for success in reaching your goal. Please check out my website for more information and tips and thanks for your comment!