The Eisenhower Principle: Are you Using Time Effectively?

Posted by Hilton Vogel-Dellinger on Jul 22, 2015 12:16 PM

 
Time management is all about production and efficiency. We often make decisions on tasks to optimize both while meeting our goals. Our tasks can fall into the categories of important and urgent. Important tasks are ones such as developing a strategy or doing research. These are critical to a company’s success, but have no well-defined deadline. Urgent tasks, however, have a well-defined deadline and are usually used by others to judge production and value for your company. Examples of urgent tasks include reports, meetings, and emergencies.

Good_Blog_Matrix.pngAll too often, we prioritize our tasks based on urgency rather than importance. This is understandable given the nature of the consequences for failing to complete an urgent task. When we fail to complete urgent tasks such as submit a report or attend a meeting, we alone receive the immediate backlash and blame. To protect our image, we prioritize the urgent tasks, but what about the important tasks that have little to no time constraints?

As we continue to sweep important tasks under the rug, we lose direction on the road to our goals. When important tasks are left incomplete, goals are not achieved and business suffers with ambiguous culpability. President Dwight Eisenhower is said to have organized his priorities by importance rather than urgency. Taking this step is difficult, but the long term benefits outweigh the short term image sacrifice. Today this process is known as the “Eisenhower Principle” and has many applications for leadership, business, and personal life.

Here at Remedi, April Watts recently wrote a blog about her goals in business and personal life. April discusses how both types of goals should be kept in sight and the dangers of getting bogged down by a laundry list. April’s application of the Eisenhower Principle helped her achieve a great goal for her personal life. I challenge you to think about urgent tasks in your EDI, business integration, and personal life that may be prioritized over important tasks and holding you back.

In the business world, many companies are too busy with urgent tasks to identify important ways in which their business can grow. As Remedi founder Tracy Loetz discusses in her latest video, many companies have the mentality of staying the course with regards to EDI. EDI modernization provides a more cost efficient system that reduces complexity and provides flexibility with your partners. If your business is like many others with an inefficient EDI system in place, don’t let it be an important issue that is never resolved. Spend time planning for your business so you can be ready when the time comes to launch your EDI modernization initiative.

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