Can You Work On Things That Are Not Important Or Urgent?

Do this, don’t do that —can’t you read the sign?

I first learned about the Eisenhower Matrix during a job interview. It wasn’t my job interview — I was actually helping to hire my replacement for my first real job. And we asked one of the candidates about how he managed his time.

He confidently stood up and drew four squares on the conference room whiteboard. Then, he proceeded to explain the difference between working on a task that was important and not urgent, or something urgent but not important.

That piece of knowledge was one of the reasons why we decided to hire that guy. It was also a management practice that I’ve carried with me from job to job since then. It’s helped me focus on the right work priorities and make decisions about delegating work.

But I recently had a moment of doubt. Faithfully following the Eisenhower Matrix means eliminating any work that is neither important or urgent. But is that a good thing? Should there be time for unstructured creativity in the workplace?

What is Not Important or Urgent?

The first step in answering this question is identifying what is not important or urgent. Make a list of these tasks that aren’t crucial to your job and aren’t pressing for time. In fact, making this list should be the first thing that fits into that…