Time Management The four quadrant rule Source - Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Few questions Do you find 24 hours to be less in a day Do you often fail to meet the deadlines Do you find time to be with your family and friends Do you find relaxing time; reading time; playing time etc. …….

Our time is normally divided into four categories / quadrants Four Quadrants Our time is normally divided into four categories / quadrants Urgent Not Urgent Important Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Not Important Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4

Where do you spend your time Urgent Not Urgent Important Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Not Important Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4

Example of a Student Urgent Not Urgent Important Not Important Quadrant 1 Prepares for exam at the last minute Quadrant 2 Prepares for exam well before the exam Not Important Quadrant 3 Spends most of the time in completing friends notes Quadrant 4 A Lazy person not bothered of his / her exam

Example of an Executive Urgent Not Urgent Important Quadrant 1 Work done at the last minute Quadrant 2 Work planned and executed well before the dead line Not Important Quadrant 3 Attending to friends phone call for 2 – 3 hours Quadrant 4 A Lazy person – always sleeping and doing time pass

Quadrant 3 & 4 You now know what kind of persons lie in the quadrant 4 (Irresponsible / Lazy) Quadrant 3 persons may be very hardworking but they do not succeed since they spend most of their time in doing unimportant things

Quadrant 1 Quadrant 1 persons are always in a hurry as they are doing jobs which are important and urgent Since the quadrant 1 persons are always in a rush, they never find time and peace of mind Their efficiency is never optimum (ask yourself when you do any thing in a rush do you get the perfect / required results)

Quadrant 2 Quadrant 2 people always plan their schedule well. They set their own targets and complete the same before the deadlines They have ample of time and peace of mind Their efficiency is always very high (ask yourself – outcome of a job when it is done in a cool manner)

Reality Not a single person in this world actually belongs to one particular quadrant. Every persons time is divided in the four quadrants. For Example Urgent Not Urgent Important Quadrant 1 30% Quadrant 2 Not Important Quadrant 3 10% Quadrant 4

An Ideal Mix Not Urgent Urgent Important Not Important Quadrant 1 5% No matter how much you plan you will require some time to spend in this quadrant. So always be ready for it. Spend most of the time in this quadrant. Move your time from other quadrant to this quadrant. Your efficiency will increase and so will your peace of mid Urgent Not Urgent Important Quadrant 1 5% Quadrant 2 80% Not Important Quadrant 3 10% Quadrant 4 Like it or not some of your time will be taken by Quadrant 3 and Quadrant 4, But one should keep the time in these two quadrants at its minimum