In his book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", Stephen R. Covey popularized Eisenhower's Time Management Matrix, pointing out that we live in a more effective fourth generation of time management, an era in which managing time itself is no longer a goal, but managing where it is focused at any given time.
"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
Four quadrants of the Covey Time Management Matrix
Each quadrant has different attributes designed to help you prioritize tasks and responsibilities. These quadrants are as follows:
Quadrant 1: Urgent and important
Quadrant 2: Not urgent but important
Quadrant 3: Urgent but not important
Quadrant 4: Not urgent and not important