Are you a procrastinator who studies for exams at the last minute?
Are you overwhelmed by work or other academic activities that prevent you from focusing on your studies?
The Eisenhower Matrix is a well-known prioritization tool you can use to bring order to your busy schedule.
Find out how you can use this matrix to organize your goals and achieve academic success.
Did you know?
"90% of college students procrastinate" and "25% become chronic procrastinators."
What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix is a task and time management tool. It helps you organize goals in these 4 quadrants:
Important and urgent
Important but not urgent
Urgent but not important
Not urgent and not important
Image created in MS Word by the author
Using the Eisenhower Matrix helps you:
Transform how you manage your schedule, projects, and assignments.
Overcome procrastination and allocate enough time to completing essential tasks.
Write down, visualize, and easily revise your short, medium, and long-term goals when necessary.
Think about or quickly list 4 of your tasks. Where do you think they belong in the Eisenhower Matrix?
Did you know?
"Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, took former US President Dwight Eisenhower's words and used them to develop the now-popular task management tool known as the Eisenhower Matrix."
Using Quadrants 1 & 2
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Q1: Urgent and important
Place tasks that need your immediate attention in this quadrant — for example, studying to retake an exam in 72 hours.
Avoid too many urgent and important tasks. Rushing to complete multiple tasks is overwhelming, and the pressure of multitasking causes anxiety. Poor time management also increases the risk of missing exams and other important deadlines. 
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Q2: Important but not urgent
Spend most of your time in this quadrant. This is where you'll do most of your planning.
With an organized schedule, you'll feel calmer and more confident knowing you're allocating enough time to prepare for exams, and complete assignments before they become urgent.
Did you know?
"By attending to quadrant two consistently, you decrease the number of pressing problems that pop up in quadrant one."
Using Quadrants 3 & 4
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Q3: Urgent but not important
Delegate these tasks or do them in your spare time. They seem urgent, but they're not. For example, delegate social club duties to another club member.
Learn to say no when you have important tasks to complete.
Text messages from friends or promotional emails about products and services might look urgent. Resist the urge to focus on them — respond during your leisure time.
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Q4: Not urgent and not important
These tasks are distractions. Delete or spend 5% or less of your time on them.
If you're unable to focus on your work because of these activities, find a quiet place at home. If there isn't enough space at home, book a study room at the library when you need to prepare for exams or complete assignments.
Self-care
Are you wondering where to place activities such as exercise, time for preparing healthy meals and participating in certain social activities?
Self-care and good mental health are essential! Add them to quadrant 2 if you think you might neglect them.
Quiz
Greg is in his first year of college. He decides to use the Eisenhower Matrix to organize his tasks and manage his time. He made a list of 4 tasks. Which one should he place in quadrant 3?
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Take Action
Before the Eisenhower Matrix
Image by wayhomestudio on Freepik
After the Eisenhower Matrix
Image by wayhomestudio on Freepik
Prioritize academic goals and give yourself enough time to prepare for exams. Follow these steps:
Did you know?
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday and avoiding today.” Wayne Dyer
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