Loading summary
Transcript3 lines
- [00:05]
A
From the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is Entree Leadership. I'm your host, Dave Ramsey, with over 30 years of experience leading in the trenches right alongside you. And today we're talking about President Eisenhower's worst kept secret. That's still helping leaders today. You can imagine that after Pearl harbor, the US was facing a lot army building resource management, coordination with the allies, responding to threats, the list goes on. Meaning if anything was going to get done with any kind of efficiency, the issues at hand had to be ruthlessly prioritized. That's why Eisenhower, who at the time was commander of the Allied forces in Europe, relied on a strategic mindset to focus on what mattered most. And this mindset later inspired what we now call the Eisenhower Matrix. It's a simple two by two decision matrix and it helped Eisenhower determine where he should personally spend his time and as well what he should delegate, defer or just delete altogether. And if you're overwhelmed with problems, it can help you do the same. So today, one of my leaders, John Felkins, who works with business owners just like you, is going to walk you through through the Eisenhower matrix. He'll show you how you can use it to prioritize what's in front of you.
- [01:28]
B
Thanks, Dave. We hear from a lot of business owners who say I'm working nonstop, but nothing's really changing. What that tells me is they don't have a work ethic problem, they have a focus problem. And I get it. It's easy to get confused between being busy and being productive. But just because you're running ragged all day is it doesn't mean you're moving your business forward. See, the goal isn't to do more. It's to stop wasting your time doing the wrong things. It starts by identifying what's urgent, what's important, and what's quietly stealing your time. And that's exactly what the Eisenhower matrix helps you do. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander during World War II and the 34th president of the United States. He was the guy responsible for D Day. He was making decisions where literal lives were on the line and he couldn't afford to waste time. One of his most famous lines was what is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important. Eisenhower learned through war and leadership that urgency is a lousy decision maker. So he created a mental framework that he used to organize his time and and prioritize the most important tasks. Here's how it works. You have four quadrants. The first quadrant is important and urgent. The next quadrant is what's important but not urgent. The third quadrant is what's not important but urgent. And the fourth quadrant is not important and not urgent. Everything you do and every task you complete falls into one of these four categories. First, important and urgent. This is what you should do now or very soon. For Eisenhower, this might have been D day launch decisions. Or maybe it was the intelligence about enemy movements. Anything that needed to be handled immediately. Then there's important but not urgent. These are things that you can delay or plan to do later. This category was Eisenhower's primary focus most of the time. This is where he would have included things like supply chain, logistics, training generals or defense strategies. More proactive tasks than reactive tasks. Then we have not important but urgent. These tasks are tasks to delegate. Eisenhower intentionally gave these to someone else to do. For example media demands, scheduling or other day to day operations. Anything time sensitive that didn't require Eisenhower's presence. Then we have not important and not urgent. These are things to delete. Eisenhower actively eliminated these. For him it could have been unnecessary meetings or political pageantry. So how does this work for you? Well, to start, make a list of all of your daily activities. And by all, I'm talking about everything from meeting with your accountant to catching up with a team member about their vacation. Then take your list and plug everything into the matrix. Here's what that could look like an important and urgent. Maybe it's payroll and a sick kid. Next we have important but not urgent. Maybe that's Q1 planning or maybe it's a date night. Next up we have not important but urgent. Maybe this is text or maybe it's somebody else's fire. Lastly, we have not important and not urgent. This is probably sports or social media. So now you can see which quadrant is taking up most of your time. But awareness alone doesn't change anything. You've got to do something about it. First, you need to ruthlessly eliminate the time wasters. Look at everything you put in the not important, not urgent quadrant and ask yourself, does this actually need to happen? Who would notice if this disappeared? Is this moving anything forward or just filling up my calendar? Be honest here. Are you sitting in meetings that accomplish nothing? Are you constantly checking your email or doom scrolling and calling it research? Whatever it is, pick at least one task you can immediately cut this week. Next, challenge yourself to do the important stuff that gets pushed aside. Look at what you put in the important but not urgent category. This probably is full of things that matter deeply but get ignored because nobody's yelling about them. But if you want to separate yourself from leaders who are burning out. You need to make time for the things that pay off long term. That might be making time to brainstorm with your team, spending time with your family, or going to the gym. Maybe it's just having your morning quiet time. Do the important stuff now so you don't have an emergency later. Then get out your calendar and block out time to do the important tasks. Start with all the urgent tasks like fires and deadlines you need to address sooner rather than later. Then add in the non urgent tasks like leadership to dos, planning or one on one conversations. Prioritize the tasks only you can do and decide if there are any you can delegate to someone else. Remember, if it's not on the calendar, it's not real. You have to intentionally make time for what matters. And don't try to do everything at once. Take it one thing at a time. Multitasking is a myth. Also, the reality is that interruptions will happen. Emails do come in, the phones do ring. People need you. That's leadership. But the goal isn't perfection. It's quick recovery that matters. When distractions come up, handle them. Close the loop and get back to your list. Don't let one interruption derail your whole day. Building this into your weekly rhythms will take some time, but you have to train yourself and your team or else it won't stick. And once you do, you'll start to see things shift. You won't have to put out as many fires, you won't have to be so reactive. The important stuff will get done more quickly, you'll feel less scattered, and you'll actually move the business forward.
- [07:39]
A
Over the years, I've used this tool as well as others to help me take control of my time. So if you want to learn more about the exact principles that helped me master my schedule and grow my small business into a national brand, check out our free Ultimate Guide to Time Management. Just go to entreeleadership.com time or click the link in the Show Notes. That's all for today. Thanks for watching. I'm Dave Ramsey and this is Entree Leadership.