Understanding why tasks pile up fast
When I first tried to use the Eisenhower Matrix, I realized the biggest issue wasn’t the matrix itself but my tendency to think everything was urgent. For example, my inbox was full of Zapier error emails, and each one felt like a mini fire. By the end of the day, I had spent hours troubleshooting little automation hiccups like a Google Sheet not updating or Slack messages firing twice. None of these were huge problems, but they distracted me from the stuff I actually needed to do, like finishing client reports. The matrix helped me see that half the things I was calling urgent could have waited another day without breaking anything.
I still remember one specific afternoon when three automation tasks failed back to back. The Gmail trigger just refused to pass along attachments, Trello cards duplicated themselves, and my Notion database wasn’t syncing at all. At the time, I was convinced I had to fix all three immediately. But when I dropped them into the upper left quadrant of my Eisenhower sheet, I asked myself what actually breaks business if it is ignored for a few hours. Only one of them needed attention right away (the Gmail attachments). The other two could be pushed to tomorrow. That shift took me from pure stress mode into breathing space.
Breaking down the four quadrants clearly
The matrix has two axes. One asks is it urgent and the other asks is it important. Put those together and you get four squares. Let me explain it with the actual mess I often face:
– Urgent and Important tasks for me usually look like a client calling about a report due today or automation breaking on payday. These are the things I cannot dodge.
– Not Urgent but Important tasks are longer projects like finally rebuilding my AirTable base so it does not choke when too many rows appear. If I never put time here, the same urgent problems repeat forever.
– Urgent but Not Important is where random Slack messages and notifications about unrelated platforms go. I often waste hours here unless I delete or mute them.
– Neither urgent nor important are activities like updating my personal logo color palette at midnight. Fun, but not necessary.
If I had remembered this earlier, I would not have wasted hours fixing a Zap that was just posting duplicate messages in a test Slack channel nobody else even saw. That belongs in the bottom right corner.
How I set up the matrix on paper
I tried fancy apps, but honestly the simplest way that worked was folding a piece of paper into four quarters. I drew two lines, labeled each quadrant, and then dumped all tasks from my mind onto it. Seeing them laid out gave me surprising clarity. On one day, nearly everything I was stressing about ended up in the urgent but not important box. No wonder I felt drained without real progress.
Here is what my sheet looked like:
“`
Urgent and Important Not Urgent but Important
————————————————–
Fix client spreadsheet bug Schedule invoices
Send payroll file today Write content plan
Urgent not Important Not Urgent not Important
————————————————–
Slack message cleanup Redecorate folder icons
Answer random tech email Update personal header image
“`
Looking at it this way made me realize I was spending hours on the left side of the sheet, but the long term better work sat on the right side.
Turning the matrix into a daily routine
The tricky part was not just using the matrix once but actually keeping it in front of me daily. I started blocking time at the beginning of every morning for five minutes: quickly rewrite the quadrants and sort what came overnight. One time I skipped it, and what happened? I opened Slack first thing. Two hours later I was still answering people about workflow quirks that weren’t urgent at all. When I finally went back to my matrix, I saw the top two urgent important tasks untouched. That day burned into me that the ritual is as important as the tool.
Sometimes I even take a photo of my paper matrix and keep it in a note on my phone. That way when I am tempted at lunch to dive back into recurring bugs, I can check and see if they actually deserve attention today. More often than not, they sit politely in the not urgent corner.
Digital versions can help but distract
I also tested online tools. Trello, Notion, and even Google Sheets all work as matrix boards. Trello was cool because I could drag and drop tasks into quadrants, but the temptation to keep reorganizing cards got in the way. Notion was too slow loading when I just wanted to capture a quick thought. Google Sheets actually felt closest to my paper method. I made four big cells on the sheet and resized them into quadrants. Typing in them felt natural.
The downside of digital tools is they invite tinkering. One day I lost half an afternoon designing the perfect Notion template, with colors and tags and categories. By the time I was done, I had not completed a single important urgent task. My advice if you are just starting—try plain paper first until the habit feels natural. Only then switch to a digital system.
What to do with low priority tasks
The hardest part is not identifying urgent important tasks, but deciding what to do with the low priority stuff. At first I left them floating around. Over time, I learned to set a real strategy for each:
– Delete them outright if they add no value. My folder icon obsession got tossed completely.
– Delegate small repetitive tasks when possible. For example, I had a VA check Zapier error logs instead of me reacting every time.
– Delay tasks that are nice to have but not time sensitive. I keep a list I call someday list in Google Keep.
This way, when I scan the matrix again later in the week, the bottom right quadrant does not breed guilt. It is either empty or handled indirectly.
Troubleshooting situations when prioritization breaks
Even with the matrix, I still slip. A typical slip happens when a task changes category mid day. Example: An important but not urgent task suddenly becomes urgent because a deadline jumped forward. I had this happen when a client emailed moving report delivery from Friday to today. In one minute the task moved from lower right to top left. The best thing is to keep the matrix flexible. I literally cross out tasks and rewrite them across quadrants when circumstances change.
Another failure mode is emotional bias. Sometimes I just want to do fun tasks, like reorganizing Airtable fields, so I justify them as urgent. The matrix keeps me honest, but only if I re read it like a checklist throughout the day. Otherwise, I catch myself deep cleaning my digital workspace instead of writing the presentation that pays me.
Comparing with past mistakes I kept repeating
I once spent two weeks perfecting a time tracking workflow in Zapier when I already knew my tracking habits were inconsistent. Looking back, that belonged squarely in not urgent not important. But because it was fun and technical, I convinced myself it mattered. The Eisenhower Matrix became a mirror—it showed me how often I confuse effort with importance. Some tasks look impressive, but if no one else cares, they just eat up time.
The main lesson was that seeing tasks on paper or in quadrants makes these illusions harder to maintain. You cannot argue with a square that is clearly empty while the top left quadrant keeps filling. One glance tells you where your energy really belongs.
If you want to read more about the original concept of the Eisenhower Matrix, there’s a straightforward explanation on mindtools.com that helped confirm I was setting it up correctly.
Making peace with unfinished boxes
At the end of many days, I often see half completed quadrants. The urgent stuff gets cleared, the important but not urgent stuff makes tiny progress, and the rest remains scattered. Early on, I felt guilty about this, as if I was failing the system. But eventually I realized the point is not to complete every square—it is to make sure the most valuable work always wins when time is short. That recognition itself makes the stress drop a little, even if the unfinished tasks keep staring back from the paper 🙂