There are many tools that make time management easier or form the basis for successful time management. Today we will introduce you to one of them, the so-called Eisenhauer Principle, which you may also know as the Priority Matrix.

Correction: We are not presenting it to you, but bringing it as a reminder. Because you know what it is all about. But do you apply it? Let's get to that later.

The principle, developed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, is not without controversy. After all, how can processes become urgent if time management is done properly? After all, managing time properly is supposed to prevent things from burning. But the experienced knows that even the best planning is not infrequently thwarted by the unexpected. And usually a surprise doesn't come alone.

Now the tool becomes interesting and convinces even the last critic. If you want to keep a cool head, you need to get a quick overview of all topics, their urgency and importance. Working in a graphically clear way now has advantages that the Priority Matrix offers.

How does it work? Professionals always have a form ready to hand in their desk drawer. But it is quickly done. A sheet of paper, divided into 4 fields with 2 simple crossing strokes, the to-do's are entered into the respective field according to their importance and urgency according to the following criteria:

Priority A (top left field): Tasks that must be completed immediately and are of absolute importance. You tackle these tasks yourself.

Priority B (upper right field): Tasks that are not urgent but are absolutely important and therefore have to be done by you. You schedule these tasks and complete them in a concentrated manner at the set time.

Priority C (lower left field): Tasks that have to be done urgently but are not really important. Delegate these tasks to safe hands.

Priority D (lower right field): Tasks that are neither urgent nor important. These tasks end up in the waste-paper basket.

Stop. In the waste paper basket? Many people interpret "Don't do it" in this way. With a critical focus, this is too superficial and perhaps also too arrogant a thought. These things often just need a polite return to where they came from.

After a quick overview of all topics has been created on a sheet of paper in crisis management, the next steps are to stringently work through and track the to-do's. Outlook and MS Teams with its numerous apps such as Planner can be used for this purpose. However, if you still like it graphically and would like to implement the tool permanently in the team, you should think about using Appfluence.