Analysing your time spent on urgent and important activities. pointers for planning time

1. School Leadership Development
Second Quadrant
March, 2010

2. •URGENT =
IMPORTANT ??
• Both are independent parameters – hence we can have a 2 * 2
matrix , resulting in four combinations or quadrants

3. Time Management
IV
Not Urgent and Not
important
III
Urgent but not
important
NOT
IMPORTANT
II
Important but NOT
urgent
I
Urgent And
Important
IMPORTANT
NOT URGENTURGENTImportant /
Urgent

4. Quadrant I
•Urgent and Important quadrant
•MUST BE DONE …. JUST NOW
•Current issues / problems
•Items beyond ones own control
•Reactive ­ lack of planning / ineffective
implementation of plan.
•Crisis management / trouble shooting
•Stressful

5. Quadrant II
• Important but not urgent quadrant
• Must be done …. But not now .. Can be looked at
later on
• Our dreams and visions
– Health, Fulfillment of potential, ‘arriving in life’, time with
family / children
• Proactive effort needed… since not a MUST
– Needs to be slotted through Planning
• Planning is the process by which we predict our
future
• Planning is the process by which we realize our
dreams and not let that be a result of luck
• QII activity delivers results / high value

6. Quadrant II
• Items move from Quadrant II towards Quadrant I. If we
can tackle the item in the QII stage itself, it will not
become a crisis at a later point in time (submitting
assignments well in time avoids last minute stress)
• We are better equipped to handle an item in QII since it
has not yet become a cause for stress. Cooler mind will
result in better solutions.
• QII can allow us to sharpen our own skills and fulfill our
potential by meaningful and thorough exploration of
possibilities in any project, while in QI, we would like to
quickly complete the tasks without getting the best of the
experience

7. Not Important
• Quadrant III – Urgent but not important
– Has to be done NOW … (is it really required??)
– Irritant, Stressful
– Unintentionally, many spend significant time here
– Need to question any activity we take up – what is the real
justification / value of the activity?
• Opportunity cost
• Quadrant IV – Not urgent, not important
– Trivial tasks that could provide mind a rest
– should not become cause for stress.

8. Current / typical spend of time
15 – 2010 – 20
QIVQIII
0 – 2060 - 80
QIIQI
Result – stressed out individual, ineffective work

9. Ideal spend of time ?
10 – 200 – 10
QIVQIII
40 - 800 - 20
QIIQI

10. Important
• People who neglect QII will spend significant time
juggling with crises. Each crisis will be supplanted by
a bigger one.
• People who devote time to QIII will be ineffective,
though they are doing crisis management.
• A successful person would spend significant part of
time in the second quadrant.

11. QII for School
• Develop competencies and skills in School staff
– Teacher professional development
– Develop specializations within each member
• Curricular material ­ local/contextual
• Self Assessment processes
• Members find satisfaction and happiness in activity
and delivery

12. THINK QII
•If you have 20 hours to cut a tree… spend
at least 18 hours sharpening your axe …