The Eisenhower Matrix is legit the only reason i didn’t chuck my laptop into the Willamette last week here in Portland where its been raining for 47 straight days and my to-do list hit 127 because i cant say no to save my life. im wearing the same hoodie as yesterday (armpits questionable), eating cold ramen with a pen cuz forks are apparently extinct in this apartment. My job? freelance copywriter + professional chaos goblin. once wrote an entire client campaign powered by spicy sweet chili doritos and pure spite.
last month i was straight-up drowning—every email felt like it was yelling, every slack ping made me twitch, spent three hours “urgently” watching tiktoks about productivity (the irony). then i vaguely remembered this Eisenhower Matrix thing from some podcast i listened to while folding laundry that never got put away. drew it on a pizza box at 1am with a sharpie that was dying. boom. life shifted. kinda.
The Eisenhower Matrix: who tf is eisenhower anyway
president dude, general, ran the free world, still had time to not lose his mind. the matrix is just four boxes:
- urgent + important → do it right tf now
- not urgent + important → schedule it (this is where dreams go to breathe)
- urgent + not important → delegate (ha i wish)
- not urgent + not important → delete or doomscroll (guess which one i choose 90% of the time)
### the day the eisenhower matrix paid my rent
Monday 9:03am. inbox at 87. client screaming about deadline. i scribble the matrix on my whiteboard with a marker that sounds like it’s on its last leg. client revisions → Q1. “learn Italian on Duolingo” → Q4. instantly see vie been treating Duolingo like its life or death. finish client stuff by noon. get paid. buy actual forks. witchcraft.
how i actually use the eisenhower matrix (hot mess edition)
every morning i give it like 4 minutes tops:
- brain dump everything onto stickies (i buy them in bulk now dont judge)
- sort em into the four quadrants while chugging cold brew that tastes like regret
- Q3 gets an auto-reply “ill circle back next week :)”
- Q4 gets one 10-minute timer or it’s dead to me
works maybe 60% of the time. other 40% i just slide tiktok back into Q4 and call it self-care.
The Eisenhower matrix when you have zero chill (real examples from last week)
- Q1: send invoice before landlord remembers i exist
- Q2: finish the novel i swear im writing (been here since 2022 lol)
- Q3: answer linkedin “just 5 minutes” messages
- Q4: organize spice drawer by color (i did it anyway fight me)
pro tip: if everything feels urgent you’re probably lying. ask “will i actually die if this isn’t done today?” 99% no.
### thursday night Q4 relapse (send help)
11:47pm. supposed to be asleep. instead im color-coding washi tape because “aesthetic productivity.” realize im deep in Q4 hell. slam drawer. cry a lil. move “sleep” to Q1 where it belongs.
still suck at this half the time but at least now i suck on purpose. there’s a james clear article i bookmarked and never finished reading cuz—irony—but here if you’re better than me: https://jamesclear.com/eisenhower-matrix
anyway im out (after this one thing… wait is it Q1 or Q2?)
so yeah the Eisenhower matrix is stupid simple and somehow life-changing. four boxes. ten minutes. suddenly youre not crying in the target parking lot over what day it is. try it tomorrow. draw it on whatever—receipt, pizza box, your arm. then come tell me what ended up in Q4. i need solidarity.
