On Friday, one of the students in my business management class entered the lecture room fifteen minutes before the end of the class. And her good excuse for coming late was “my neighbor’s daughter was sick and we had to take her to the hospital.” Those who came very early to class didn’t wait for my response; they chorused “urgent, but not important.”  

Quite a number of entrepreneurs—employees too—enjoy being busy. They engage in series of energy draining activities until they are burnout at the end of the day.  And they are quick to ignorantly tag it being productive. Being productive has everything to do with getting precise and good result from whatsoever you are engaged in. In business, productivity is measured in terms of the significant tasks accomplished that will enhance the profitability of the business.

Some entrepreneurs spend most of their time redressing their businesses, but not engaging in profit enhancing activities. Like my student who chose going to the hospital with her neighbor over being in a business management class. Good intention, but not productive.

Productivity is about goal setting; it is the ability to set one’s priorities right. It is the ability to focus on result and not activities. It is the ability to reduce or completely eliminate distractions. It is the ability to make time for important things that will have significant impact on your business growth. You can’t do this without the Eisenhower Decision Matrix.

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix is designed to help you distinguish between what is urgent and important. It is designed to help you use your time productively to achieve significant daily, weekly, monthly and yearly result. It is divided into four quadrants. The Quadrant 1 and 2 are very important and will contribute to whatsoever you become in life. Quadrant 3 and 4 are not important; you shouldn’t spend most of your time there. Here are the quadrants.

Quadrant 1-important and urgent: I will call them emergency tasks. These are crises, deadlines and problems. Apart from emergency cases beyond your personal control, tasks in this quadrant are as a result of ignoring tasks in Quadrant 2. If you spend most of your time in Quadrant 2, you will have fewer tasks to attend to in Quadrant 1. Most successful and productive people spend most of their time in Quadrant 2.

Quadrant 2-important, but not urgent: This is the quadrant where you should spend most of your time. This is where you plan activities that will have significant impact on your business and personal life. Here you need to grow relationships, create daily plan for development and empowerment, regular medical checkups. Here you need to develop the saving and investment culture. If you diligently perform all the activities in this quadrant, you will spend less time in Quadrant 1.

Quadrant 3-Not important, but urgent: These are activities that show up in the form of distraction and interruption. They are not part of your To-Do-List, they just show up. But you must teach yourself to recognize them as distractions or interruptions. So, you don’t have to spend too much of your time attending to such activity. They will drain your energy without yielding any significant result that is taking you in the direction of your life or business plan.

Quadrant 4-Not important, not urgent: These are leisure or pleasurable activities. Like watching a movie, reading a novel, visiting a friend, going on a trip or spending time on TikTok. Less of your time should be allocated to these activities. They may refresh you, but may not contribute to your productivity.

So, what do you have to do? You need to take a closer look at how you spend your day especially this season. You need to take a closer look at your business and the tasks you are involved in. Look at the quadrants again and readjust your routine for maximum productivity.