This free Eisenhower Decision Matrix handout looks at an effective strategy for prioritizing tasks. When you have a lot to do, deciding what to do next can feel overwhelming. This matrix can help.

From self-care and professional development to board meetings and classroom management, this popular matrix is useful for early learning decision-making. This decision-making matrix grew from this 1954 Dwight D. Eisenhower quote, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”

Eisenhower’s words are often misquoted. Two common versions are, “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” and, “Most things which are urgent are not important, and most things which are important are not urgent.” He also did not claim to  be the originator of the idea.