Seriously, how is it almost mid-April?
I know where my time’s gone… mostly buried in content creation and upgrading our backend systems. And yes, I do lean heavily on AI to cut through my to-do list (lifesaver), but let’s be honest—there’s always more.
I’m sure many of you can relate. In real estate, we’ve become masters at juggling all the things while trying to stay laser-focused on “dollar-productive activities.”
But let’s be real: busy isn’t the same as productive.
Yesterday I hit that familiar wall—that slightly overwhelmed, “what do I even tackle first?” feeling.
So, I outsourced the decision. Not to another person… but to AI.
With a little help from some classic productivity principles and a nudge from tech, I found my way back to clarity.
Enter the urgent-important Matrix
The story of the Urgent-Important Matrix (also known as the Eisenhower Matrix) begins with a man who knew a thing or two about making high-stakes decisions: President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The Presidential Origins
As the 34th President of the United States and a five-star general, Eisenhower had to make countless decisions about which tasks demanded his immediate attention and which could wait.
His method for doing so became the foundation of what we now know as the Urgent-Important Matrix.
Stephen Covey Makes It Mainstream
Just like the SCAMPER methodology I posted about the other day, while Eisenhower laid the groundwork, Stephen Covey popularised the matrix in his groundbreaking book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”
He took Eisenhower’s decision-making principle and transformed it into a practical time-management tool that anyone could use.
The Digital Evolution
Now this time-tested framework can benefit from a modern technology upgrade.
With AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, we can now analyse and categorise our tasks more efficiently than ever before.
As a refresher, the Eisenhower Matrix divides tasks into four quadrants:
- Urgent & Important: Crises, pressing problems, deadline-driven projects
- Important, Not Urgent: Planning, relationship building, personal development
- Urgent, Not Important: Interruptions, some calls, some emails
- Neither Urgent Nor Important: Time wasters, busy work, some emails
Each quadrant demands a different approach:
- Q1: Do these tasks immediately
- Q2: Schedule these tasks
- Q3: Delegate these tasks
- Q4: Eliminate these tasks
Using AI to Master Your Matrix
The real magic happens when you combine this classic framework with modern AI tools.
Here’s how to do it:
Brain Dump Your To-Do List: Start by gathering all your tasks in one place. Include everything from “respond to buyer inquiry” to “update CRM system”. Alternately, write down your to-do list with a notepad and pen (my preferred method!)
Then, Let AI Be Your Analysis Partner: Share your list with ChatGPT or Claude using a prompt like this:
Are you familiar with the urgent/important matrix?
[Let the model respond]
Upload/Paste your list and ask:
Can you please prioritise my to do list according to this method. Ask me any questions you need to to help me sort it out.
Prioritising Your To-Do List with ChatGPT – Watch on Loom
I use the “Ask Questions” method in this prompt to make sure that ChatGPT accurately represents what each of these tasks means to me.
You could go further and request it to
- Justify its reasoning (something good to test with one of the reasoning models like o1 or Deep Seek!)
- Ask the AI to give you a structured schedule to focus on the Quadrant 1 tasks while helping you block out time for Quadrant 2 activities.
But the question is, does the Eisenhower Matrix really work in today’s dynamic age of doing?
There’s another productivity framework that I prefer – which actually recognises some tasks as time investment – where the benefits compound over a length of time.
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