Improve your work efficiency with our free Eisenhower Matrix Daily Planner. Why the Eisenhower Matrix? The Eisenhower matrix is a tool for managing daily tasks and schedule to improve efficiency and productivity. The model was developed by former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower who is widely considered a master of time management.
The Eisenhower Matrix daily planner is a part of our CEO Planner Series, a collection of professionally designed planner loose sheets intended for both personal and professional use. Be a successful CEO of your life using our free planner templates. Also check the following planners from the CEO Planner series:
Eisenhower Daily Task Scheduler: Prioritize Your Way to Success
The main feature of our daily planner is the Eisenhower Matrix, a tool designed to help you prioritize tasks and activities based on their urgency and importance.
How to use the Eisenhower matrix for daily task planning:
Start by preparing a list of personal and work-related tasks needed for the day. Prioritize the tasks and categorize them based on their urgency and importance. After which, place them in the corresponding quadrant in the Eisenhower matrix as follows:
- Urgent and important (Quadrant 1)
Urgent and important tasks demand your immediate attention and action, typically because they have set deadlines and your inaction may cause adverse consequences either/both in your personal or professional life. While classifying importance and urgency of tasks is relative, in general, tasks that are essential in achieving your overarching goals and targets, pressing work deadlines, and emergency situations are given utmost priority. Thus, focus on these tasks to ensure their timely completion.
- Important, not urgent (Quadrant 2)
Important but not urgent tasks refer to activities that are crucial for your personal or professional success but currently do not require immediate attention such as long-term projects or skills development activities, among others. These type of activities usually have long gestation period. Set deadline and block a schedule for when you intend to complete these tasks. An important aspect of daily planning is not only to address pressing tasks but also to allocate time for activities that are crucial for your long-term success. Complete your tasks listed in Quadrant 2 after addressing those in Quadrant 1.
- Urgent but not important (Quadrant 3)
Urgent but unimportant tasks are nearly always interruptions and work clutters that do not move you closer to your goals. There are several ways to effectively manage these types of tasks including delegation and automation. The most common way to address them is through delegation. If you must do the tasks yourself, complete them as quickly as possible. I usually try to finish them immediately, spending the least possible time, to free up my schedule for more critical tasks. Decluttering my work list from unimportant tasks reduces distractions and enables me to concentrate on higher-priority and more important tasks.
- Not urgent and not important (Quadrant 4)
Write down tasks that are neither urgent nor important in Quadrant 4. Do them only when you have spare time, with minimum time spent. Set a schedule to reevaluate these tasks and check whether you can delegate or eliminate them from your day-to-day work list.
Make the Eisenhower Matrix Daily Planner part of your routine to manage your schedule effectively by downloading the planner sheet below:
Other Components of our Daily Planner
Undated for greater flexibility
We deliberately kept the daily planner undated for flexibility. Print it on demand and use it as a loose sheet—there’s no need to carry a hefty planner daily. Use the planner to organize your day, and bind the sheet into your planner when you have time. However, don’t forget to write the date and check off the day in their designated spots at the top section of the planner for easy filing. I find it effective to bind the sheet to my planner in the evening while I reflect on my day and plan my activities for the following day.
Habit Tracker
We have included a habit tracker in our daily planner to help you monitor the routines you want to improve on. Whether they’re personal, such as maintaining adequate water and healthy food intake, engaging in regular exercise, and having quality sleep, or professional habits, such as going and leaving the office on time to maintain a healthy work-life balance, we have included a space for you to list them down. A corresponding column with 1 to 5 rating scale was included in the planner to facilitate self-assessment and tracking. Plot your daily scores in a chart to check patterns and monitor your progress.
Space to scribble notes
Our planner offers a designated space for notes at the bottom of the page. Use the blank space for your daily reflections, highlighting the highs and lows of your day. You may also use it to write down your next day’s activities.
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