Being a working mum can be hard. Society perceives you like the seasoned multitasker who’s breastfeeding with one arm and cleaning up the household mess with the other. All while attending a conference call with your headphones on. Your ambition forces you to live up to this unrealistic perception in the fear of showing any microscopic sign of vulnerability.
This was me a year back. As much as I was contented with the brief hit of dopamine after crossing off every item on my to-do list, I knew I was on my way to burnout. I wondered, is there a way to thrive both at the workplace and home as a working mum?
The Eisenhower Matrix
In my quest to reexamine the quality of life to achieve better work-life balance, I turned to the Eisenhower Matrix I used to manage time and priorities at work. I was gratified by how quickly and easily it’s helped me organise my tasks and reshuffle my focus.
This famous prioritisation framework is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States. Eisenhower had an impeccable ability to generate high output and remain productive.
During his two terms in office from 1953 to 1961, he kept America at peace (foreign policies in Cold War), sponsored and signed the bill leading to the development of the Interstate Highway System (Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956), pulled the country ahead in the Space Race (NASA) and ended the Korean War.
Prior to his presidency, Eisenhower served as the Supreme Allied Commander during World War II and achieved the five-star rank of the General of the Army.
Needless to say, Eisenhower lived one of the most productive lives one can imagine. His most famous productivity strategy is the Eisenhower Matrix, a simple decision-making tool meant to help people better manage their time and priorities.
The 2 x 2 matrix consists of a horizontal axis representing “urgency”, and a vertical axis for “importance”. This divides the matrix into 4 quadrants, as shown.
The matrix divides your tasks into four possibilities:
- Important and urgent (tasks you will do now)
- Important, but not urgent (tasks you will schedule to do later)
- Urgent, but not important (tasks you will consider delegating to others)
- Not important and not urgent (tasks you will eliminate)
However, it’s not the act of allocating your tasks into these boxes that drives productivity. Instead, it’s the mere recognition of the distinction between importance and urgency. For years, I equated the two — or rather, I perceived tasks with an impending deadline (urgent tasks) as important. The Eisenhower Matrix has thus helped me to be more conscious in differentiating the two and triage the things I’d like to focus my time and energy on.
The difference between important and urgent
“I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
A colleague of mine went on unpaid leave following his second child’s arrival. When asked about his decision, despite the potential financial struggle, he said, “I missed my first daughter’s early years for work, and I don’t want to repeat the same mistake. My son only grows up once, and I want to be there to witness it.” I never truly understood the depth of his words, till I became a mum myself.
Motherhood has allowed me to reevaluate my priorities, with family as the centrepiece of my life. Hence, spending quality time with family, to me, is important. Important tasks are matters that contribute to your long-term missions and goals.
Urgent tasks, on the other hand, are time-sensitive matters. In other words, they are things you’d probably like to react to: emails, texts, phone calls etc.
How to use the Eisenhower Matrix?
Important and Urgent: Do Now
The tasks in this quadrant are the top priorities — time-sensitive and bear repercussive consequences if they lapse.
Some examples include:
- Bringing your sick child to the hospital
- Paying bills to avoid outstanding fees
Important but Not Urgent: Schedule Them
These are the things that don’t have a fixed deadline but are crucial to you and your goals.
Some examples in this category include:
- Spending quality time with family
- Planning for retirement
I recommend adding these tasks to your schedule, that is, to have an implementation intention. As rightly pinpointed by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits, implementation intentions are effective for sticking to our goals.
Broadly speaking, the format for creating an implementation intention is “When situation X arises, I will perform response Y.”
– James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits
Adopting the implementation intention, these examples become:
- When everyone finishes dinner, I will spend quality time with my family.
- When I receive my paycheck at the end of the month, I will plan for retirement with my partner.
Having implementation intentions has helped me stay on track with my plans. It has proven effective for sticking to my family and personal goals.
Not Important But Urgent: Delegate Them
These to-dos are not central to your goals, but they have a clear deadline. I recommend not spending much time and energy on these tasks. Instead, delegate or tackle them with the help of others, if possible.
Some examples of tasks in this quadrant include:
- Laundry that needs to be done so your kids have a clean uniform to wear the next day
- Requests and emails from colleagues on non-time-sensitive issues
For me, most of my housework fall into this quadrant. Think laundry, cooking, cleaning. The list goes on.
One way to tackle these time-consuming tasks is to think of how you could utilise the time more effectively instead of deeming them as a waste of your precious resource. For instance, I listen to podcasts for the latest trends in learning and development and positive habits to increase productivity.
Some may argue that multitasking is a myth. I find podcasts, however, easy to consume, fulfilling and has minimal inertia to kickstart.
Not Important And Not Urgent: Delete Them
Tasks in this quadrant are clear-cut — you delete them, as much as you can. Minimise time spent on these activities. John Zeratsky, the co-author of the book Make Time, has termed these activities as Infinity Pools.
Infinity Pools are always-on, effectively infinite sources of information and entertainment.
– John Zeratsky, co-author of Make Time: How to focus on what matters every day
Some examples include:
- Mindlessly scrolling through social media
- Unnecessary shopping
I know I am guilty of spending an unhealthy amount of time on these unproductive activities. I’m constantly looking for ways to combat them – another reason why I love the book Make Time – for its practical tips on focusing energy on things worth your time.
While I agree that some personal downtime once in a while is crucial for mental well-being, be mindful of your priorities, and not compromise on the things that matter to you.
Takeaways
With every bit of planning and prioritisation, you’re a step closer to achieving a better work-life balance. Experience tells us that there isn’t a need to pay the same level of attention and energy to every task. Mapping out your tasks using the Eisenhower Matrix can help you be selective with your time, and focus on the most important matter. Finally, it is noteworthy to mention that you should keep the matrix dynamic as new tasks emerge and your priorities pivot.
A year later, the Eisenhower matrix has changed the way I spend my time. It has helped me to prioritise my family and upgrade my productivity as a working mum. I focus my productivity and invest my energy where they are needed the most.
I hope you’ll find it useful too.
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Previously Published on medium
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