Eisenhower matrix online

Type your tasks, put each in one of four boxes by how urgent and how important it is, and the page tells you which one to do first. Everything stays in your browser.

How to use the matrix

Write down everything on your mind, one task at a time. For each, ask two questions. Is it urgent: is there a deadline soon, or is someone waiting on you? Is it important: does it move forward something you care about? The answers pick the box.

• Do first is for urgent and important tasks. Do them today.
• Schedule is for important tasks without a deadline pressing on you. These are the ones that get lost, so give each a date.
• Delegate is for urgent tasks that don't need you. Hand them over, or do the quickest ones and move on.
• Drop is for tasks that are neither. Deleting them is allowed.

The tool suggests a task to do first: the hardest one in the first box, and the earliest added if several tie. Mark each task Easy, Medium or Hard honestly and the suggestion will be a useful one. It is a rule of thumb, not an oracle; you know your day better than a four-box page does.

Common questions

What is the Eisenhower matrix?

It is a way to sort tasks by two questions: is it urgent, and is it important? Urgent and important tasks you do now. Important but not urgent ones you schedule. Urgent but not important ones you hand to someone else if you can. Tasks that are neither you drop. It is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, who is quoted as saying that what is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important; the matrix itself was popularised later by Stephen Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

How do I decide if a task is urgent or important?

Urgent means there is a deadline soon or someone is waiting on you now. Important means it moves forward something you care about, whether or not anyone is asking for it. A quick test: if you skipped it, would you regret it in a month? If yes, it is probably important.

What does the tool mean by the one to do first?

Inside the Do first box it picks the task you marked as the hardest, and if several are equally hard, the one you added first. Doing the task you dread most before the others is the idea behind the "eat the frog" advice, which is also how Todorant orders each day. The tool is a suggestion, not a ranking of your life.

Are my tasks saved anywhere?

Only in this browser, in its local storage, so they are still here when you come back on the same device. Nothing is sent to a server, and clearing your browser data removes them. Use "Copy as text" if you want to keep a list somewhere else.

Is it free?

Yes, with no sign-up and no ads.