The amount of work piled up on my desk was once so out of control that I woke up at 2 a.m. and went straight to the office to get caught up. I got a lot done and felt so much better, but there are better ways to manage time and tasks.
Time Management Matrix Framework
To help people optimize their efficiency and productivity, Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, developed a matrix framework for prioritizing time and tasks. When following this framework, you prioritize every task, responsibility, and facet of your life based on its importance and urgency. Covey created four quadrants to illustrate this concept: Do, Plan, Delegate, and Eliminate. The goal is to spend as much time as possible in Quadrant 2 (Plan) and less time in the others. According to Covey, this is the fundamental for effective time management.
You must complete the urgent and important tasks in Quadrant 1. These include patient/client emergencies, crises at home or work, tasks with deadlines, medical records and invoices, and other pressing matters.
The important but not urgent tasks in Quadrant 2 include strategic planning and dreaming, relationship building, goal setting, personal/professional growth, and rest and recreation. Certainly, this quadrant contains the most important parts of life, which is why Covey believes it is where we should spend most of our time.
Try to delegate the urgent and not important tasks in Quadrant 3 as much as possible. These include tasks like cleaning the house, making routine phone calls or emails, and mowing the lawn.
The not urgent and not important tasks in Quadrant 4 include binge-watching television, scrolling social media, and other “time-wasting” tasks. Although Covey suggests we avoid this quadrant entirely, these tasks often help us relax and avoid feeling so regimented.
Rather than interpreting these four quadrants so literally, perhaps a better approach is to relabel them as must do and time fixed, must do and time flexible, important but not mandatory, and would be nice.
Regaining Control of Your Time
Using your limited time more intentionally can help you regain control of your life. Maintaining daily/weekly/monthly task lists with deadlines can help you remember all your pending responsibilities. Prioritizing and rank ordering can help put your duties into perspective and give you a clear picture of which activities you should perform first. It can also be helpful to create a schedule for when you will complete each task. Try assigning each task on your to-do list to the appropriate matrix quadrant. By taking these steps, you will feel more in control of your time and have a clear plan for accomplishing all your critical tasks.
Related Reading
- Veterinary Wellness Briefs: Practicing Radical Acceptance
- The Top Factors Influencing Equine Veterinarians’ Job Satisfaction
- Veterinary Wellness Briefs: Setting Boundaries with Clients in Equine Practice
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