Eisenhower Matrix

Paste your to-do list, answer two questions for each task, and see it sorted into the four boxes: do first, schedule, delegate, drop. Then print it or share it.

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Sort my tasks

Paste your to-do list, one task per line. You’ll get two quick questions per task, and each one lands in its box below.

Step 1 · What to print

Kind Start from a template Title Lines to fill in at the top (comma between them)

Step 2 · Your items (optional: leave empty to print blank)

Top 3 today 1 · Do first (urgent and important) 2 · Schedule (important, not urgent) 3 · Delegate (urgent, not important) 4 · Drop (neither urgent nor important) Items, one per line

Tip: a line starting with # prints as a section heading.

Columns Blank pages

Extra columns (one-column lists) Due Who Notes Done

Number the lines Fill the page with empty lines Hour-by-hour schedule Schedule from to Week starts First day (optional) Span Month

Step 3 · Look

Lines Tick marks Font Color Small “onlinelistmaker.com” line at the bottom

US Letter, half-inch margins. Print at Actual size (100%).

Nothing you type leaves this device unless you make an online list.

What the Eisenhower matrix is

The Eisenhower matrix sorts tasks by two separate questions: is it urgent (does it need attention now?) and is it important (does it move something you care about?). Two questions make four boxes:

1 · Do firstUrgent and important

Deadlines, real problems, things with consequences today. Do them now, yourself.

2 · ScheduleImportant, not urgent

Planning, health, learning, relationships, prevention. Put them on the calendar, because nothing else will force them.

3 · DelegateUrgent, not important

Interruptions, many emails and meetings, other people’s priorities. Hand them off, batch them or answer briefly.

4 · DropNeither

Busywork and time-fillers. Cross them off without doing them.

It is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in a 1954 speech quoted a former college president: “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” Stephen Covey turned the idea into the four-quadrant “time management matrix” in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989), and it has been a staple of productivity advice since.

How to use it

Dump everything. Write every task on your mind into the box above, one per line. Don’t sort yet.
Answer honestly. “Urgent” means there’s a real deadline or cost soon, not that someone is asking loudly. “Important” means it serves your goals, health, work or people, not just someone else’s.
Act on the boxes. Do box 1 today. Put box 2 into your week (the weekly to-do list helps). Hand off or batch box 3. Let box 4 go.
Watch box 2. Most of the work that changes things lives there. If box 1 is always overflowing, it’s usually box 2 work that waited too long.

“Make it an online list” turns the matrix into a shared checklist (box 4 left out), with each task labeled by its box, so a team or a household can work through it together.

Printing it so it looks right

Print at Actual size (100%). The PDF is a true US Letter page with half-inch margins, so it prints edge to edge on any home printer without “Fit to page.”
Ink saver. Choose Black and “Lines only” for the lightest page, or keep the color for a sheet on the fridge.
Make it last. Slip the page into a sheet protector and tick it with a dry-erase marker. Wipe it on Sunday and use it again.
Rather tick it on your phone? “Make it an online list” turns what you typed into a list you can check off on any device and share with one link.

Questions

What are the four quadrants of the Eisenhower matrix?

1 Do first (urgent and important), 2 Schedule (important but not urgent), 3 Delegate (urgent but not important), 4 Drop (neither urgent nor important).

What is the difference between urgent and important?

Urgent tasks demand attention now because of a deadline or immediate cost. Important tasks contribute to your goals and values. A task can be either, both or neither, which is why the matrix asks the two questions separately.

Why is it called the Eisenhower matrix?

It is named after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in a 1954 speech quoted a former college president on the difference between urgent and important problems. Stephen Covey later popularized the four-quadrant version.

Can I print the Eisenhower matrix?

Yes. Download a landscape Letter PDF with your tasks in their boxes, or print a blank template to fill in by hand.

Is my list saved anywhere?

Only in your own browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server unless you choose to make an online list.

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