1. Defining Activities (level of urgency)
How urgent is the activity?
When must we work on it?
If we define the task as urgent, it requires immediate attention
Urgent tasks often act on us & we react to them
Drop everything else to work on it
However, these activities may or may not be important

2. Defining Activities (level of importance)
How important is the activity?
Is the task related to achieving desirable results?
Is it a high priority?
Meaning, does the activity contribute to reaching your goals?

3. How are spending your time?
How much of your day is spent on activities of low importance?
How much time do you spend on urgent activities?

4. THE TIME MANAGEMENT MATRIX
Urgent
Not Urgent
ACTIVITIES:
Crises
Pressing problems
Projects driven by deadlines
which surprise us II
ACTIVITIES:
Prevention
Relationship building
Recognizing new opportunities
Planning I
Important
III
ACTIVITIES:
Interruptions, some calls
Some mail, some reports
Some meetings
Proximate matters
Popular activities IV
ACTIVITIES:
Trivia, busy work
Some mail
Some phone calls
Time wasters
Pleasant activities
Not important

5. If spending time on important things makes sense, how can you do it?
How do important tasks that are urgent differ from important tasks that are not urgent?