The Eisenhower Matrix
A powerful tool for thinking about importance is the Eisenhower Matrix. Eisenhower’s genius was in de-conflating importance with urgency.
Importance vs urgency
This is the classic version.
- Urgent tasks demand your immediate attention. They are the “fires” you have to put out right now. (But they might be small fires!)
- Important tasks contribute to your long-term goals and values. They are the things that truly matter. (But they might not be urgent.)
This creates four quadrants:
| Important | Not Important | |
|---|---|---|
| Urgent | 1. Do Now – Address crises and immediate deadlines. | 3. Delegate – Handle interruptions efficiently. |
| Not Urgent | 2. Schedule – Focus on long-term goals and planning | 4. Delete – Eliminate distractions and time-wasters. |
How the classic matrix helps
Most people spend their days stuck in Quadrants 1 and 3, the ones driven by urgency. In the long term it is stressful and unsatisfying. The goal is to spend more time in Quadrant 2, working on what’s truly important.
The Task Compass Matrix: Importance vs. Resistance
The Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful mental model, but its focus on “urgency” can still keep you in a reactive state. Task Compass introduces a more practical set of dimensions for personal productivity: Importance vs. Resistance.
- Importance: As we’ve defined it, this is about the long-term consequences of not doing something.
- Resistance: This is the internal friction you feel when you think about doing a task. It’s the “ugh” feeling that makes you procrastinate.
This creates a new matrix:
| Low Resistance | High Resistance | |
|---|---|---|
| High Importance | 1. Do Now – Your most important tasks that feel easy. | 2. Schedule & Strategize – The important work you’re avoiding. |
| Low Importance | 3. Delegate or Defer – Easy wins that don’t help much. | 4. Delete – Tasks you don’t want to do and don’t need to do. |
By focusing on resistance instead of urgency, Task Compass helps you understand your own psychology and provides a more accurate picture of your true priorities. It’s not just about what’s important; it’s about what’s important and what’s holding you back.
How Task Compass uses the Eisenhower Matrix
There are Eisenhower Matrix centered apps that literally display the matrix on the screen, sometimes as literal as to have the user drag items between quadrants. Task Compass recognizes that the Eisenhower Matrix, while a powerful thinking tool, is not an effective UI. We’re using a different approach.
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We focus on Importance. That’s why the question isn’t “which task has priority?” because that would have been putting cart in front of the horse. Importance drives priorities, not the other way around.
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We ignore urgency. As a use you already know what’s urgent, because urgent things knock on your door themselves. The goal of Task Compass is to follow importance instead, so you can let the small things fail while you succeed at the important ones.
In other words, you got to let those few urgent things fail sometimes, while you make progress on what truly matters.
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Task Compass detects resistance. You don’t need to tell the app which tasks are difficult. The app will see what you said is important that isn’t getting done. The app will then guide you towards executing the task by suggesting to schedule a specific time for this task.