Advanced Tactics x The Eisenhower Matrix

Plus: GoodGoodGood News 😊

Oct 22, 2023

In this letter: 

⏳ Take Urgent-Important to the next level (4 advanced tactics).
😊 Add a dose of positive news to your world with these 3 articles.
📖 Enjoy the latest posts from the LinkedIn Career Content Library.
📅 Grab a pre-built learning plan for the week.

Hey There, Eisenhower

You’ve probably heard of The Eisenhower Matrix by now.

Developed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, this matrix focuses your valuable time and energy on tasks that are both Urgent and Important.

Pres. Eisenhower used this tool to:

Become a 5-star general in the U.S. Army during WWII.
Act as the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Forces.
Lead the United States as the 34th President.

If it worked for him.
It can work for you too.

Apple AirPods near MacBook — Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash

At its core, The Eisenhower Matrix helps you avoid work that, while feeling urgent, isn’t really that meaningful.

These “fire drill tasks” include:

Answering email
Attending meetings
Responding to coworkers
And more

Let them, and they’ll sap your productivity.

Advanced Eisenhower

If you’re new to the Eisenhower Matrix, start with this primer.

Moving forward, I’m going to offer up 4 advanced tactics that can help you take your productivity to the next level by pairing The Eisenhower Matrix with other proven frameworks.

1. Eisenhower + Time-Blocking and Deep Work
2. Eisenhower + Automation and Delegation
3. Eisenhower + Feedback Loops
4. Eisenhower + Personal Development Planning

Let’s get down to business.

Time-Blocking and Deep Work

Impact: 
- Protect time for Urgent-Important tasks.
- Complete high-priority tasks fast with deep work practices.

You’ve identified your Urgent and Important tasks.

Now what?

It’s not enough to know these tasks need your full attention. You have to clear out your schedule to invest in them.

Take these steps:

Time-block your calendar. Map out how long you’ll need each day to complete your top tasks. Then, lay down protected time. This will keep “urgent” tasks like meetings and emails from creeping in.
Deep work during your time-blocked hours. Multi-tasking is a misnomer and a drain on your attention span. Instead, put your phone away, turn off notifications, and give the task your undivided focus.

Automation and Delegation

Impact: 
- Remove recurring low-importance tasks from your plate. 
- Invest time where it will move the needle.

We’ve all got chores.

Low-importance work that needs to be done, but doesn’t meaningfully move us forward. The professional equivalent of vacuuming and mopping the floors.

Take these steps:

Start with automation. In today’s tech-powered world, there are many solutions to your everyday needs. Seek them out. Set them up. If you find your day filled with low-priority tasks, it’s time to automate.
Delegate, then support. For tasks that need human intervention, look to delegate. If you have a team, hand them the right tasks. And if you’re running a business, look to bring on a VA or freelance help.

Feedback Loops

Impact: 
- Track the results of your Urgent-Important tasks. 
- Get an outside perspective on your productivity.

The Eisenhower Matrix starts in your mind.

But it doesn’t have to stay there. With the right feedback loops, you can gather critical information to help you iterate and improve moving forward.

Take these steps:

Seek feedback immediately after launching. When you’ve invested time in an Urgent and Important task, don’t let it sit in the dark. Shine a light on it by asking those around you to provide feedback.
Ask about your process. Go a step further by connecting with a mentor, peer, or coach to talk through your process. Was this task truly an Urgent-Important one? Did you invest your time effectively? Dig deep.

Hesitating to seek out feedback?

Consider this quote from executive coach, Ed Batista:

To become more effective and fulfilled at work, people need a keen understanding of their impact on others and the extent to which they’re achieving their goals in their working relationships. Direct feedback is the most efficient way for them to gather this information and learn from it.

Personal Development Planning (PDP)

Impact: 
- Add high-powered skills and knowledge. 
- Shorten the time needed for Urgent-Important tasks.

Pretty simple: get better at your top tasks.

If something is truly Urgent and Important, it deserves your ongoing development. Grow into your skillset to move through your workday faster and at a higher level.

Take these steps:

Let Urgent-Important tasks inform your PDP. After using the Eisenhower Matrix for a while, you’ll notice trends. Types of work where your personal investment is a value add. Make sure your PDP includes ongoing development in their areas.
Include PDP goals in your Eisenhower Matrix. Once you’ve set an important PDP goal, make sure it takes a top spot in your matrix. This will help you prioritize and carve out time for your daily development and growth.

To Wrap

The Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful productivity tool.

Plus, it plays nicely with other productivity frameworks, like time-blocking, deep work, automation, feedback loops, and more.

As you continue to grow your personal productivity toolkit, explore these advanced tactics to help you get more done in less time.

(And carve out valuable hours for daily development).

Not All News is Negative

In 2023, it often feels like the world is falling apart.

😔 Ongoing war in Israel and Ukraine.
😔 Political turmoil and environmental change.
😔 The impacts of tech layoffs, AI, and the housing market.

Amidst the constant flow of negativity, it’s no surprise many mental health experts have cited the need for us to manage our intake of news.

Doomscrolling. Increased anxiety and depression. If we let it, too much media can pull us down.

Here’s the good news:

👉 There’s still good news out there.

Consider GoodGoodGood, an online publication that pulls together the top good news from around the world.

Here are 3 recent articles to lift your spirits.

—

📝 Article: 224 Ice Breaker Questions That Bring People Together
The next time you’re in a room with strangers, you can either hide in the corner or start breaking the ice. This list of conversation-starting questions can help you find common ground and form connections.

Positive Vibe: You rub shoulders with new people every single day. Use ice breaker questions to create a meaningful interaction and fill your life with positive, healthy relationships.

—

📝 Article: Oregon Is Turning Sewage Into an Endless Supply of Green Energy
Where’s clean energy going to come from? Well, if you’re in Oregon, the answer may be sewage. The state government is testing new ways to use methane (a natural byproduct of sewage) as an energy source.

Positive Vibe: Climate change can be tackled with innovative solutions. There are a lot of smart folks out there looking for new and creative sources of green energy.

—

📝 Article: Cleaning for a Reason: Nonprofit Provides Free Cleaning Services for Cancer Patients
Imagine finishing up chemotherapy, only to come home to a dirty house. Well, no longer in the city of Denver. The nonprofit, Cleaning for a Reason, offers free in-home cleaning to help cancer patients navigate this difficult time.

Positive Vibe: Sometimes it's the small things in life, like having a clean house, that make all the difference. Nonprofits don't always have to solve world hunger. It's enough to give someone a helping hand.

Top line:

Make sure you’re maintaining a balanced diet of news.

This helps you:

See the good in the world.
Avoid an “everything is terrible” mindset.
Find causes to celebrate and champion.

So, invest in good news.

Bonus: GoodGoodGood is now available for free to any library card holder. Use the Libby app to access a digital version of the publication anytime, anywhere. Here are instructions on how to get set up.

Will you use this?

Update: The LinkedIn Career Content Library

This week, the library added 5 new posts. There are now 325 career-boosting posts available anytime.

Here’s what is new:

Alex Brogan offers a must-read trust equation in this post. If you’re looking to build trust with a new peer or leader, this 4-part process will set you up for success. Establish credibility. Lock in reliability. Find the full post here.
Jessica Chen tackles a tough career topic: What to do if you find yourself in a bad manager / employee relationship. Jessica shares her personal story and outlines 4 best practices for recognizing and moving on from an ill-fitting environment.
Scot Chisholm has led dozens of teams over the last 20 years. And he’s seen plenty of conflict. In this post, he lays out tips like “Don’t let it fester” and “Be the objective voice” to help you navigate the emotional waters of conflict with ease. See the full list (and overcome conflict) here.
Julie Zhuo shares helpful tips on building ideas. In this post, she talks through the process of building a new idea - from notes on a napkin to something fully fleshed out. Included: 6 questions to ask as you’re building out your idea.
Kyle Thomas starts with sobering news—another tech layoff (660 people). Layoffs can be painful. But with Kyle’s list of tips like “get your results data,” and “get inspired by what you DO want to do next” you can pivot quickly to a new, great role.

Friendly reminder. As a Develop Daily subscriber, you have free lifetime access to The LinkedIn Career Content Library. My gift to you.

Visit the library

Develop Daily w/ This Learning Plan

Sunday:

Pull up your calendar; block 15 minutes for learning each day.
Set a (stretch) goal for the week.
Lay a strong foundation with this growth mindset affirmation:
“The more I practice, the more I improve.”

Monday:

Start by writing down your Eisenhower Matrix for the week.
Invest 15 minutes considering the 4 advanced tactics from this letter. How can you integrate them into your workweek?
Create a mini plan to test out.

Tuesday:

Pull up 224 Ice Breaker Questions That Bring People Together.
Spend 15 minutes pulling out your favorite questions and save them somewhere you can easily access in the future (ex: Notion).
If you have an event coming up, save a few ice breaker questions in the calendar invite as a helpful reminder to get out there and meet folks.

Wednesday:

Now read through Oregon Is Turning Sewage Into an Endless Supply of Green Energy (or another article from GoodGoodGood).
Ask yourself: “What is the value of positive news?”
Think through your current news diet and whether it would benefit from more positivity.

Thursday:

Revisit the 4 advanced Eisenhower Matrix tactics.
Have you been able to apply them during the week? Why or why not? What do you plan to do in the future?
Write down next steps for continuing your productivity journey.

Friday:

Share your takeaways from the week with a friend or colleague.
Strike up a 15-minute discussion on a key topic.
Seek out 1-2 resources that argue the opposite point.

Saturday:

Explore freely.
Pull up LinkedIn, your favorite newsletter, or head to the library.
Spend 15 minutes learning something new.

Impact: By the end of the week, you'll have (1) leveled-up your productivity, and (2) invested in positive news to boost your mental and emotional health. You'll also have some new ice breaker questions for future use.

Total Investment: <2 hours

Develop Daily