Time Management and The Eisenhower Method

I don’t know about you, but the non-rainy season always feels really chaotic to me. Between the added farm chores, show season, spending more time outdoors with family and friends, and our business objectives, time can get away from us quickly. I also absolutely hate feeling rushed and the chaos of it all can be a bit overwhelming and anxiety-inducing.

When I was in the corporate world I was introduced to a time management tool and process called the Eisenhower Method. It really served to help me get my arms wrapped around all of my to-dos so I feel a bit more organized. Despite the bit of time it takes to use this method, I found myself with more space and greater peace in my day-to-day.

What is the Eisenhower Method?

The Eisenhower Method, also known as the Eisenhower Matrix or the Urgent-Important Matrix, is a time management tool that helps prioritize tasks based on their urgency and importance. It is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, who is said to have used this principle to organize his workload (if a President can use it to get organized, I figure it’s good enough for me!). The method categorizes tasks into four quadrants:

Urgent and Important (Q1: Do): Tasks that require immediate attention and have significant consequences if not completed promptly. These are top-priority tasks.

Important but Not Urgent (Q2: Decide): Tasks that are important for long-term goals but do not need immediate action. These should be scheduled for a later time.

Urgent but Not Important (Q3: Delegate): Tasks that require immediate attention but are not crucial to long-term success. These tasks can often be delegated to others.

Not Urgent and Not Important (Q4: Delete): Tasks that are neither urgent nor important. These tasks can be minimized or eliminated to free up time for more important activities.

Using the Eisenhower Method helps us focus on tasks that matter most, improve productivity, and reduce time spent on less critical activities.

Show Me How to Apply It

Well, let’s take a second to consider an example (I’ll use my own life to showcase this process in practice). 

I typically start with a brain dump of everything on my mind that needs to get done each week outside of the day-to-day (for a riding instructor this may be lessons, stall cleaning, feeding, etc). These day-to-day tasks are already scheduled in my calendar. This process, in itself, can be so helpful - putting it on paper and getting it out of your brain, where it takes up our mental bandwidth and energy, trying to remember all of the things.

I also break things into small enough tasks that I can shove them in small spaces throughout my day. The list can get quite long doing this but it’s better than avoiding a task altogether because it will take too long, then feeling rushed to get it done when absolutely necessary and potentially foregoing other important responsibilities. This is what my brain dump last week looked like (note, some of these tasks will happen after the week you’re working on and that’s okay; thie process is designed to get it out of your head): 

• Pull tansy in top pasture 

• Pull tansy in middle pasture

• Pull tansy in left pasture

• Pull tansy on corner pasture 

• Pull false chamomile in pastures 

• Pull thistle in pastures

• Bathe Cedar for horse show

• Clean tack for horse show

• Pack trailer for horse show

• Clean up from corner pasture pitcher pump work

• Wash horse blankets

• Mow grass arena

• Get groceries

• Water new trees (x2)

• Pay mortgage/bills

• Corner pasture gate mud management project

• Ride Cedar (x3)

• Clean out corner feeders

• Put “caution horses” sticker on trailer

• Work on rock arena panels 

• Spray paint ground poles for grass arena

Whew, that’s quite the list! I already know I won’t get it all done, but at least I can be strategic about how I prioritize it all to keep myself moving forward. This leaves me feeling good about my productivity and on top of my farm tasks. Consider adding in home and personal tasks, business development tasks, and other important tasks, too.

Next I order these based on the Eisenhower Method above. I like to use Q1-4 to help me keep track in an easy-to-read format. You can see which Quadrant maps to which number above, but the general concept is: Q1 = Important/Urgent, Q2 = Important/Not Urgent, Q3 = Not Important/Urgent, and Q4 = Not Important/Not Urgent. An important thing to keep in mind is that you are likely to focus on the things in Q1 and Q2 first, as they are important. Their urgency may change throughout the week. So, for example, if it’s really something I need to do now I put it in Q1. If it is something I can push to later in the week I put it in Q2. I re-evaluate each night so I can shift things around, if I need, to the next day based on my pre-existing commitments (this takes less than 5 minutes and helps so much with peace of mind). You’ll see what I mean, below.

• Q1: Pull tansy in top pasture (looking like it will be going to seed soon, so important to pull sooner rather than later)

• Q1: Pull tansy in middle pasture (about to go to seed)

• Q1: Pull tansy in left pasture (about to go to seed)

• Q1: Pull tansy on corner pasture (about to go to seed)

• Q3: Pull false chamomile in pastures (one of my horses is allergic so I can’t put her in that pasture until it’s pulled)

• Q4: Pull thistle in pastures (annoying but not necessarily detrimental as the horses have learned to avoid it)

• Q2: Bathe Cedar for horse show (important but can schedule for end of the week - this will flip to Q1 as I get closer to the end of the week; why the re-evaluation is important)

• Q2: Clean tack for horse show (important but can schedule for end of the week - this will flip to Q1 as I get closer to the end of the week)

• Q2: Pack trailer for horse show (important but can schedule for end of the week - this will flip to Q1 as I get closer to the end of the week)

• Q3: Clean up from corner pasture pitcher pump work (I can’t turn horses out in this pasture until I do this. This is not yet urgent as I have other pastures but as they eat down the grass it will become more urgent)

• Q4: Wash horse blankets (Not needed until Fall)

• Q1: Mow grass arena (I need it mowed low enough to practice our patterns for the show this weekend)

• Q1: Get groceries (It’s important to eat and we’re 15 minutes outside of town so I don’t really want to run in every time I need something as that takes more time)

• Q1/Q2: Water new trees (x2) (Important to keep them alive so one water session is urgent/important and the other can be scheduled for later in the week)

• Q1: Pay mortgage/bills (I’d like to keep the farm running and my credit score up, so timeliness is important here)

• Q4: Corner pasture gate mud management project (This will come into play in the Fall so is not currently urgent or important, but I do want to keep it on the radar)

• Q1/Q2: Ride Cedar (x3) (One is urgent, the other two can be scheduled but they are all generally important in preparation of our show)

• Q4: Clean out corner feeders (While this needs to be done at a regular cadence, it’s neither urgent nor important this week)

• Q4: Put “caution horses” sticker on trailer (While I would like to have this on the trailer before we haul out to the show, it’s also not urgent or important. I can still haul out without it on there)

• Q4: Work on rock arena panels (We use rocks under the railing to mitigate erosion in the winter and I have a pile of them to place after a project this winter. Since we are not in the rainy season here it is not currently urgent or important.)

• Q3: Spray paint ground poles for grass arena (Right now I have to trek poles between our two riding areas, which is a pain and takes a lot of time, but for me it is not important when compared to other tasks and responsibilities I have this week)

As you can see, I prioritized riding Cedar, watering the trees, mowing the arena, pulling tansy, getting groceries, and paying my bills. When I narrowed it down in this way I was able to fit these tasks in between my schedule on Monday and Tuesday and could “forget about” the other tasks for a few days.

I consider Q2 items things I can schedule to later in the week. On Wednesday I re-worked my matrix a bit I had managed to get through most of the tasks above with the exception of pulling all the tansy, but that’s okay because I cleared enough pastures that I was able to rotate the horses and pull them off of the pastures I didn’t get to. Pulling tansy became a Q2 task at this point and my Q2 tasks became Q1 tasks in anticipation of the show weekend. 

So, what about Q3 tasks? Frankly, I didn’t get to them this week. It’s just the reality of prep for a show weekend amongst all of the other tasks needed on the farm. They are still urgent because other things are dependent on them (like getting to rotate the horses again and saving time down the road by not having to move poles all over the place) but they were not important this week. I am a solo team on the farm and in my business during the week, but if you have staff or working students, these would be the tasks to give them. On the weekends my partner is around and he often helps me get a little further down the to-do list. 

And Q4 tasks? I will sometimes have Q4 tasks on my to-do list for months. I’m not really able to fully "delete" them as many of them will eventually shift to greater importance over time. In my mind, though, they are not something requiring energy or focus for the time being. They’re just on the list so I don’t completely forget about them but also don’t fret about them living as to-dos in my head for months on end. 

Some additional considerations for our industry. Try to schedule summer camps and high time/energy tasks so that they don’t coincide with other high energy tasks and activities like a horse show weekend. I have learned that minding this helps me ensure I don't bite off more than I can chew in a given week. So, for example, during summer camp weeks your Q1 and Q2 task list will need to be smaller because you will likely have even less available time. That’s okay. This process enables you to plan accordingly. I tend to look at things a week at a time, and use this method the weekend before so I’m prepared. It may behoove you to expand out to look at your month or shrink down and take it day-by-day. Play around with the Eisenhower Method and see how it works best for you. 

Want to take it a step further?

After completing the Eisenhower Method process weekly, I take my Q1 and Q2 tasks and schedule them into my calendar (which is readily accessible on my phone, laptop, and tablet and includes my appointments (maybe it includes your scheduled lessons) and time for my daily to-dos) for the next week. This helps me really see where I will have the space to work on different tasks and allows me to literally just check my schedule for what’s next each day instead of having to keep track of all the things. Mid-week I typically re-evaluate my tasks under the Eisenhower Method and adjust my schedule for the second half of the week accordingly. 

ADAPTABLE TIP: I’m notorious for underestimating how long tasks will take me. This leads to a constant feeling of needing to catch up, which is not great for my preferred life pace. I have learned to adjust tasks to take roughly 1.5x as long as I think they will take to give myself some space and peace of mind when tasks do take longer than I would typically anticipated. If it takes less time than I schedule, I can start on another task early and I’m ahead of schedule. Win-win!

I hope this process and tool helps you feel on top of your equine business moving forward. Share how it’s working for you or if you have other methods you like to employ to keep on top of your schedule and tasks, below.

Happy Riding!

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Learn more about author Kristin Bowers.

Blog posts from Equestripreneur are not meant to replace individual professional advice, which will best inform personal circumstances.