Wellness Tool: The Eisenhower Grid to Clarify What Deserves Your Energy

Purpose

When life feels crowded, it’s easy to confuse what’s urgent with what’s important.

The Eisenhower Grid helps you declutter your mental space by sorting tasks into clear categories. This evidence-based prioritisation tool (rooted in cognitive load and executive function research) helps you make intentional choices rather than reactive ones — reducing overwhelm and restoring focus.

Steps

1. Draw the Grid

   On a sheet of paper, divide the page into four squares.

   Label them:

   1. Urgent & Important – Tasks that matter most and need attention soon.

   2. Important but Not Urgent – Tasks that support long-term wellbeing, growth, or goals.

   3. Urgent but Not Important – Tasks that feel pressing but could be delegated or postponed.

   4. Not Urgent & Not Important – Distractions, outdated tasks, or things that no longer add value.

      
      

2. Brain-dump your tasks

   Write everything on your mind — work, personal, admin, family, social — without filtering. Seeing it on paper gives your brain permission to stop holding it all at once.

   
   

3. Sort and decide using the Four D’s:

   • Do it: if it’s truly urgent and important.

   • Decide when: if it’s important but not time-critical — schedule it.

   • Delegate: if it’s urgent but someone else can handle it.

   • Delete: if it’s neither urgent nor important.

     
     

4. Revisit weekly

   Repeat the exercise at the start or end of each week. Over time, you’ll spot patterns — where your energy goes, what genuinely matters, and what can quietly go.

The Eisenhower Grid isn’t about perfect planning — it’s about gentle clarity. When everything feels urgent, your mind stays in crisis mode. This tool reminds you that not everything deserves equal attention. By choosing consciously, you reduce cognitive strain and create more space for the things that sustain your wellbeing.

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