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There's never enough time to do everything on your to-do list. So how do you decide the best way to divide up your day?
If you use your time wisely, you can make the most of your opportunities. But if you get it wrong, you may find yourself stuck on activities that waste your effort and energy.
That's why the Action Priority Matrix can be such a useful tool. It's a quick way to work out which activities to prioritize, and which ones to avoid.
The Action Priority Matrix is a simple grid of four quadrants.
To use the matrix, choose a task from your list and first of all rate it on its impact.
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Then, you rate it on the effort required to carry it out.
This tells you where to put your task on the matrix.
Now let's look at each quadrant in turn.
High Impact, Low Effort tasks are Quick Wins. They offer good returns for relatively little work.
For example, maybe a short email will sort out a big problem. Try to achieve as many Quick Wins as you can.
High Impact, High Effort tasks are Major Projects.
Choose and plan these carefully, so that you can reap the rewards but still have enough time for other important tasks.
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Low Impact, Low Effort tasks are Fill-Ins. A low-level admin task, for example, might fall into this category. Do Fill-In tasks if you've got some spare time. Otherwise, delegate them, or drop them completely.
Finally, Low Impact, High Effort activities are Thankless Tasks – so they are best avoided!
They won't help you much, but they will eat up time that you could be spending on high-impact activities.
Applying the Action Priority Matrix to your workload can help you to focus on the high-value activities that give you the best returns, and avoid low-impact distractions.
With practice, you'll be able to apply the principles of the matrix quickly and intuitively, transforming your daily to-do list.
To learn more about the Action Priority Matrix, and to download our free worksheet, see the article that accompanies this video.
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