Time Management

You may have read about a lot of time management techniques and sophisticated models. The objective of this article is to provide you with a simple yet powerful tool that guides your day in the activities and habits that will truly enrich your life.

A person's activities usually fit in one of the above four quadrants. Quadrant one activities are those activities that you can't live without doing. An example is an aching tooth or a very important business appointment. Quadrant two activities are those activities that are also very important but don't have a sense of NOW. Examples include chats with your husband/wife that strengthens the relationship or regular sports. Quadrant three activities are those activities that are pressing now but that are not particularly important. Examples include a phone ringing (you will probably answer the phone). Quadrant four activities are those activities that you can live without doing at all. Examples include long hours of sleeping or too much chatting on the phone or watching TV for a few hours every day.

An international research has proven that most effective people spent most of their time in quadrant two. They can't avoid quadrant one but the moment they have some time from quadrant one they use it in quadrant two. Generally, the less time spent on quadrants three and four and more time spent on quadrant two, the smaller quadrant one will become!! Those things that are important if catered for in time will not become urgent… You might ask is vacation and leisure in quadrant four? No, because you need to relax and recharge to be effective, therefore it is placed in quadrant two.

Think of a man trying to bat off (quadrant one) the crocodiles in a small lake. The moment he has some time he should start digging a canal to turn the water from the lake so the crocodiles don't have enough water to survive (quadrant two). Anything else will be in quadrants three and four.