Eisenhower Matrix

Contributed by:

Musostudy

Intended Learning Outcome:

To achieve mastery of this skill

Tool:

This is very similar to the Traffic Lights TLA. The principle, ordering tasks you have to do by importance and urgency, is the same. With this model, you delegate some tasks where possible. This may not always be appropriate to students, however, there may be tasks in this section that they can seek help with (for example sorting out Student Loan finance may be passed to Student Services for their support

Activity:

Discuss with students the studies they need to do in a certain period (could be a week, the rest of the term, the holidays or in the run-up to assessment deadlines).

Ask them to:

1. Make a list of tasks they have to do for this period, considering their studies, career, personal life etc. (You can decide the parameters depending on the scope of the task – but it is worth noting how much students’ jobs and extracurricular activities can affect their study priorities).

2. Look at the deadlines those things have and their level of importance. Write down next to each item whether it is urgent, important or both.

3. Use the Matrix to help prioritise what needs to be done and in which order. Can anything in the Delegate list be delegated or support be found? Could students support each other for some of the tasks?

How:

This could be done as a whole group – to prioritise a set of revision goals or as individuals for a more personalised list.

Remember to check back regularly and see how students are doing with their list.

Examples:

Large Group Teaching:

With large groups, you can either run this as a solo activity and then put students into groups to discuss/ adjust their decisions or you could have small-group discussions which contribute to a whole-group activity of generating one list.

Online Teaching:

Success:

Students will be clear about their goals, how they will be spending their time and what other modules, activities, jobs etc. may be affecting their planning.

Next Steps:

You may want to link into work that Student Services are running around revision periods or other points of potential stress.

Links to other activities:

Acknowledgements:

Resources:

Image for use on slides etc.: www.musostudy.com/resources/1MM/eisenhowermatrix.png

Worksheet to use: www.musostudy.com/resources/1MM/eisenhowermatrix.pdf