Eisenhower matrix template
The Eisenhower matrix sorts every task by 2 questions: is it urgent, and is it important? This template turns the 4 answers into columns on a board, so the matrix isn't a picture you fill in once. You sort the tasks, then work from the same place, and drag a card when its answer changes.
Free for 3 projects, forever. No credit card.
Reply to the client's contract changes
Fix the broken checkout
Plan next quarter's hiring
Write the onboarding guide
Book the team lunch
Redesign the old newsletter template
Renew the insurance
The 5 columns
What each one is for. Rename, reorder or add columns whenever the work needs it.
- Do First
- Urgent and important. A deadline or a real cost if it waits. Keep this column short, or nothing in it is really first.
- Schedule
- Important, not urgent. Where most valuable work lives, and what gets squeezed out. Give each card a due date so it comes round.
- Delegate
- Urgent, not important to you. Assign it to someone else, or do it quickly and move on.
- Don't Docounts as done
- Neither urgent nor important. Moving a card here is a decision, and the card stays on the board so nobody asks again. Counts as done.
- Donecounts as done
- Finished. Counts as done.
How to use the Eisenhower matrix
The full guide: How to prioritize tasks
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Step 1
Write everything down first
One card per task, all in Schedule to begin with. Include the small ones and the ones you've been avoiding. Sorting comes after.
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Step 2
Ask the 2 questions, one card at a time
Is it urgent: does it need doing in the next day or 2? Is it important: does it move something you care about? Drag each card to the column its answers point to.
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Step 3
Put the Do First cards in order
The top card is the next thing you work on. If more than 3 or 4 cards are in Do First, some of them are only urgent. Move those to Delegate.
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Step 4
Hand on the Delegate cards
Assign each one to the person who'll do it. They get a notification, and the card shows on their Focus list.
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Step 5
Re-sort once a week
Scheduled work turns urgent as dates come close. Drag cards between columns as their answers change, and archive what's in Done.
With your AI agents
An agent connected over MCP can sort a long list for you: read each card, suggest a column, and move it once you agree. It can also tell you what in Schedule is about to become urgent.
Agents connect over MCP or the REST API, on every plan, and act as you.
agentcreate_project("This month", template: "eisenhower")
agentbulk_create_cards("This month", 30 cards from my notes)
agentmove_card("Plan next quarter's hiring", "Schedule")
agentget_focus()
Keep it working
- Urgent isn't the same as loud. A message asking for something today isn't urgent unless waiting really costs something.
- Most of your week should go on Schedule cards. If it all goes on Do First, plan further ahead.
- Give Schedule cards a due date. Focus lists what's due this week across every board, so they come round in time.
- Don't empty Don't Do. Seeing what you decided against stops the same tasks coming back.
Questions
About this template
Is the Eisenhower matrix template free?
Yes. It's on the Free plan: 3 projects with unlimited cards, forever. No credit card.
Why columns instead of a 2 by 2 grid?
A grid is good for sorting once. Columns let you work from the same place you sorted in: put the next card at the top, drag it to Done when it's finished, and move cards as their urgency changes.
Who invented the Eisenhower matrix?
It's named after US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who is credited with saying that what is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important. Stephen Covey made the 4-quadrant version popular in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Can I use it with a team?
Yes. Delegate works best with people to hand cards to. Inviting teammates to a board needs Pro.
Other templates
Start from this template
Free for 3 projects, with no credit card to enter. Every board exports as JSON or CSV whenever you want to leave.