#Todoist vs things how to#

Across five separate experiments, researchers observed a curious pattern: our attention is drawn to time-sensitive tasks over tasks that are less urgent even when the less urgent task offers greater rewards. How do we decide which task to give our attention to at any given moment? Not very well, it turns out.Ī recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research set out to examine how people decide what to work on when faced with tasks of mixed urgency and importance.

#Todoist vs things how to#

This article will walk you through why distinguishing between the Urgent and the Important is so critical, how the Eisenhower Matrix helps you do it, and how to apply the matrix to both your big-picture projects and everyday tasks using Todoist. Want to be the president of the United States (hey, it worked for Eisenhower) Have a hard time delegating and/or saying no Have long-term goals but no time or energy to make progress on them This framework for prioritization helps you combat the “mere-urgency” effect (more on that later), eliminate time-wasters in your life, and create more mental space to make progress on your goals.įind yourself running around putting out fires all day (figuratively speaking)Īre busy but don’t feel like your work has a high impact Over 3 decades later in his best-selling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey repackaged Eisenhower’s insights into a simple tool to prioritize tasks, now known as the Eisenhower Matrix (also known as The Time Management Matrix, The Eisenhower Box, The Eisenhower Method, and The Urgent-Important Matrix).

The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” In a 1954 speech, Eisenhower quoted an unnamed university president who said, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. How was Eisenhower able to rack up so many accomplishments that would have such a lasting impact on his country and the world? He understood the fundamental difference between the Urgent and the Important. Eisenhower - five-star general during World War II and 34th president of the United States - was a productive guy.ĭuring his two terms as president of the United States, he led the construction of the Interstate Highway System, created NASA, signed into law the first major piece of civil rights legislation since the end of the Civil War, ended the Korean War, welcomed Alaska and Hawaii into the union, and managed to keep the Cold War with Russia cold.Īnd he did it all with panache - Eisenhower was Gallup’s most admired man of the year no less than twelve times. Eisenhower, 1961 address to the Century Associationĭwight D. “Who can define for us with accuracy the difference between the long and short term! Especially whenever our affairs seem to be in crisis, we are almost compelled to give our first attention to the urgent present rather than to the important future.”