Eisenhower method: what it is and what it means

The Eisenhower method is the process that keeps the four-quadrant matrix working: setting the criteria, classifying, deciding the action and redoing the classification at regular intervals. The matrix is the visual scheme; the method is the discipline that keeps it alive beyond the second week. The distinction is not terminological: whoever stops at the matrix fills in the scheme once and consults it as long as it holds up; whoever applies the method plans from the start a second moment to redo the classification, not just to reread it. The classification does not produce value the first time it is done, but when it becomes a repeated process with stable criteria.

Distinctive: redoing the classification at regular intervals
Distinctive: a repeated process with stable criteria
Essential: setting the criteria
Essential: deciding the action
Essential: the discipline that keeps it alive beyond the second week
Constant: a second moment to redo the classification

Glossary

Eisenhower method

The process that keeps the four-quadrant matrix working — setting the criteria, classifying, deciding the action, redoing the classification at regular intervals.