1
00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,320
Welcome to the new Manager 
podcast. 

2
00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:16,320
I'm your host, Kim Nickel. 
Hello and welcome. 

3
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,960
I'm glad you're here and I hope 
you're doing well. 

4
00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,560
This is episode 200 of the New 
Manager podcast. 

5
00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,640
It's also the last episode of 
the year 2024. 

6
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,840
We we only have a couple of days
left and then we're moving into 

7
00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,440
a new year. 
And so for today's episode, I 

8
00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,240
wanted to talk about the 
Eisenhower Matrix. 

9
00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,480
This is a tool that's been 
around for a long time. 

10
00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,560
It's named after Dwight 
Eisenhower. 

11
00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,000
And he used to be president of 
the United States long, long 

12
00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,080
ago. 
And he also was a general during

13
00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,040
World War 2. 
So he's a guy who was making a 

14
00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,320
lot of decisions, who had a lot 
of problems to solve. 

15
00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,000
And there is a quote that is 
attributed to him. 

16
00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:09,200
And he said, apparently I have 
two kinds of problems, the 

17
00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:14,440
urgent and the important. 
The urgent are not important and

18
00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:20,480
the important are never urgent. 
And so from this quote, we have 

19
00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:27,800
now this tool that has four 
quadrants and they are 

20
00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,960
combinations of urgency and 
importance. 

21
00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:37,680
And it gives us a lens through 
which we can consider all of the

22
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,840
things that are on your To Do 
List, all of the things that are

23
00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:46,000
asking for your attention. 
And it can help you decide just 

24
00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:51,680
by organizing tasks, it can help
you decide what to give your 

25
00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,440
attention to. 
So on one quadrant, we have 

26
00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,480
things that are urgent and 
important. 

27
00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:07,600
These tend to be a bit rare 
because truly important things 

28
00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:13,560
tend to not be like what's in 
our in our field of view. 

29
00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,040
The urgency, though, we 
sometimes conflate with 

30
00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,760
importance. 
If something seems urgent, it 

31
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,840
can be assumed or people might 
think, oh this is urgent, 

32
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,000
therefore I must address it 
right now. 

33
00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,640
But just because it's urgent 
doesn't mean that it's also 

34
00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:34,840
important. 
So in this box of things that 

35
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,360
are urgent and important, it's 
going to be something that needs

36
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:47,200
immediate attention and it has 
an impact or an effect on longer

37
00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:52,720
term goals, something that will 
matter down the road in the 

38
00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:57,880
quadrant that is not urgent. 
But yes, very important. 

39
00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:03,000
Those are going to be tasks that
are relevant to those longer 

40
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:08,520
term goals and needs, but they 
don't need immediate attention. 

41
00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,320
There's no urgency. 
And the danger when anything is 

42
00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:17,080
not urgent is that it's simply 
going to fall out of mind, fall 

43
00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,840
off the radar. 
Because, I mean, I think we're 

44
00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:26,160
just in such a flood of urgency.
There's always something that 

45
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,640
you could be doing now. 
And it can be difficult to 

46
00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:32,560
discern when everything seems 
urgent. 

47
00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,640
We want to really discern 
between what's the level of 

48
00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:40,040
importance and who decides if 
something is important. 

49
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,880
Other people might think 
something is very important and 

50
00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:48,560
put a lot of urgency on it. 
Maybe in your estimation, that 

51
00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,040
doesn't line up. 
So you want to be thinking like,

52
00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,240
who decides if something is 
important? 

53
00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,760
We have another quadrant, which 
is things that are urgent but 

54
00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:02,080
not important, and those are 
tasks that need immediate 

55
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,200
attention, but they're not that 
important for the long term. 

56
00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,120
And then we have the quadrant, 
which are things that are not 

57
00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:16,200
urgent and not important, and 
those are often described as 

58
00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:21,040
tasks that can waste time and 
should be eliminated. 

59
00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:26,680
And so the idea is that once you
have those four quadrants, you 

60
00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:33,000
can then make decisions about 
how you are going to use your 

61
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,400
time and attention and resources
to address them. 

62
00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:43,600
Now, one of the nuances to using
this tool comes into play when 

63
00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,480
we think about like, what do we 
know about neurodiversity and 

64
00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,600
the way that different people 
and different brains process 

65
00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,720
things differently. 
So for example, when something 

66
00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:58,560
is not urgent or it's not 
important, according to this 

67
00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,840
tool, you shouldn't even do it. 
It's not urgent, it's not 

68
00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:05,400
important, why do it? 
But if we think through the lens

69
00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,680
of neurodiversity and we think 
about, well, what is it that 

70
00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:13,120
brains need, then it could be 
that the thing that is not 

71
00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,120
urgent and not important is 
actually a thing that you 

72
00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,280
already know how to do. 
And so it feels satisfying to do

73
00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:25,000
it, which gives you a feeling of
reward and a sense of kind of 

74
00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,280
regulating yourself in a chaotic
environment. 

75
00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,280
Like if you're feeling 
overwhelmed with new things that

76
00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:35,640
you don't know how to solve, you
know your brain wants to do what

77
00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,120
it knows how to do. 
It will feel successful when 

78
00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,160
it's doing something familiar. 
And so you might find yourself 

79
00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:48,200
doing things that are not urgent
and not important, and they 

80
00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,760
should be crossed off the list, 
and yet you find yourself there.

81
00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,880
Instead of beating up on 
yourself, just consider what 

82
00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,960
other need is being met. 
That I am spending time here. 

83
00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,640
Am I avoiding a difficult 
conversation? 

84
00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:05,400
Am I feeling satisfied by a 
feeling of accomplishment? 

85
00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:10,040
Is it giving me something that 
feels productive? 

86
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,680
Like it's not urgent and it's 
not important, but I get a 

87
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:17,040
feeling of satisfaction or 
completion in completing this 

88
00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,000
thing. 
Get curious about, like, what is

89
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,400
it that's going on that's 
keeping you there? 

90
00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,520
And the other reason why it's 
helpful to think in these terms 

91
00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:31,040
is the more you understand about
yourself, the more you can apply

92
00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:36,320
tools like the Eisenhower Matrix
in a way that will best serve 

93
00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,640
you. 
So the Eisenhower Matrix, you 

94
00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:41,880
know, people will say if it's 
something is urgent but not 

95
00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:43,840
important, then that's the 
thing. 

96
00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:47,880
You should delegate. 
OK, so then you need to ask what

97
00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,480
do I need in order to delegate 
things? 

98
00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:52,760
Do I have the right people in 
place? 

99
00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,520
Do I need to communicate things 
or train people? 

100
00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:00,160
Like what is it that I need to 
be willing to let go of? 

101
00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:05,480
And maybe it's the willingness 
to let someone else be bad at 

102
00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:12,400
something that you are very good
at that can be so painful when 

103
00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,200
you think it would just be 
faster and easier if I did it 

104
00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,160
myself because I can do it 
faster. 

105
00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,440
But if it's urgent, not 
important, it might be time to 

106
00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,640
delegate it to someone else. 
You're going to want to 

107
00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,920
understand what is it that 
you're feeling about that that 

108
00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,960
has you questioning whether 
you're ready to delegate 

109
00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:37,200
something or not. 
And then we have this quadrant 

110
00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,200
where things are not that 
urgent, but they are important. 

111
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,120
Those are the things that you 
want to schedule because if they

112
00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,280
don't get scheduled, they won't 
get done. 

113
00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,840
And one of the things I think 
about as we come into the end of

114
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,840
the year and start thinking 
about the new year, what are the

115
00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,000
things that you are going to 
schedule? 

116
00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,640
Another way of thinking about 
it, what are the things that you

117
00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:05,000
will create and protect time 
for? 

118
00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:11,080
Because let's face it, there are
lots of things to do to do lists

119
00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,400
are very full and they kind of 
have this infinite scroll 

120
00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,720
effect. 
Like there's plenty of stuff 

121
00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,560
that you could put on that list 
to do, but you're having to make

122
00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,760
decisions about what you use 
your time for, how you use your 

123
00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,760
energy, your attention. 
And so if you don't make the 

124
00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:35,520
time for those things that are 
not so urgent but they are 

125
00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,600
important, then they won't 
happen. 

126
00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:43,240
I feel like the end of the year 
always brings us collectively to

127
00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,760
a place of reflection and also 
intention setting. 

128
00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:53,800
What happened this year and what
is the intention that you are 

129
00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,080
going to bring into the year 
ahead? 

130
00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,240
What will be different in the 
year ahead? 

131
00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:06,640
How will you direct your energy,
your time, and your attention? 

132
00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,560
How are you going to grow and 
how is your organization going 

133
00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:13,120
to grow? 
How is your organization going 

134
00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,640
to be better because you are 
growing? 

135
00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,040
I don't know, but I think those 
are all good questions to pause 

136
00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,040
and reflect on. 
And it can be hard to do in the 

137
00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:31,440
daily demand of everyday life. 
So a big part about being a 

138
00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:36,240
manager and being a leader is 
stepping into the willingness to

139
00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:41,560
step back and take that bigger 
picture, to take time to 

140
00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:43,960
reflect. 
Because if you don't choose to 

141
00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,680
do it, it probably won't happen.
It might feel weird. 

142
00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:51,280
If that's something you haven't 
done before, then that's OK. 

143
00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:54,840
You know, just see that as a 
sign of growth, that you're now 

144
00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:59,360
coming into the stage of the 
discomfort of strategic 

145
00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:04,800
perspective, the discomfort of 
choosing to say no to things 

146
00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:09,560
that you're good at because 
that's not the best use of your 

147
00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:13,560
time or your energy. 
Maybe now it's time for you to 

148
00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:17,920
be solving problems that other 
people are not going to be able 

149
00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,120
to solve. 
Maybe it's a problem that hasn't

150
00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,160
happened before for you or for 
your organization. 

151
00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:27,120
And if that's true, then you're 
really going to need your 

152
00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,240
creativity, your 
resourcefulness, and the 

153
00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:36,480
internal sense of like 
commitment to trusting yourself 

154
00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:40,520
in your decisions so that you 
can move forward, learn from 

155
00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:42,720
what's happening, and stay in 
the moment. 

156
00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:48,560
They can be so easy to freeze 
and try to whiteboard every 

157
00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:53,400
potential outcome and then just 
feel scared and overwhelmed by 

158
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:58,320
not knowing which decision to 
make or which path to take. 

159
00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:02,880
As you go into the year, just be
mindful of this. 

160
00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,880
If it helps to use the 
Eisenhower Matrix, then do so. 

161
00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,880
Draw that grid and look at those
4 quadrants, look at each of 

162
00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,440
those different categories and 
bring the lens of your own 

163
00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:18,080
self-awareness to it, how you 
understand yourself. 

164
00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,200
And don't use it as a way to 
kind of beat up on yourself, 

165
00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,000
right? 
But just use it as a a useful 

166
00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,120
tool that might help you gain 
some perspective and make some 

167
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,680
decisions about how you're going
to use your time. 

168
00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,400
One of the other reasons I 
wanted to talk about this with 

169
00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:39,480
you today as we're coming into 
the end of the year is I have 

170
00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:45,040
also realized that I have been 
so in the flow with this podcast

171
00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:49,440
that I'm now 200 episodes in. 
And what I really want is to 

172
00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:55,200
take a step back, to give myself
a break so that I can think 

173
00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:59,960
about what's next. 
You know, it is so easy to get 

174
00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:04,840
in a flow and just continue on 
and on and on. 

175
00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:11,360
And what I am choosing now is I 
want to take a pause, take a 

176
00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:15,920
step back and really think about
how can I make this podcast 

177
00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,520
useful for you? 
What's next? 

178
00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,520
What do I want to do differently
with this show? 

179
00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:29,520
And so I am going to give myself
some time to do some reflection,

180
00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,160
some thinking, maybe some 
experiments, try and create some

181
00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,480
things that might be a little 
bit different, and then bring 

182
00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:41,320
that back here. 
I don't know exactly how long 

183
00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:45,840
I'll be away, but the good news 
is you've got 200 episodes. 

184
00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:51,520
You've got an entire audio 
library to go through when you 

185
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,120
need or want a little boost, a 
little bit of support. 

186
00:12:55,920 --> 00:13:01,520
And if you want to learn with me
real time, then you're going to 

187
00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:06,520
want to join my course. 
My course starts on January 7th.

188
00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:10,000
There's still room if you'd like
to join and if this is not the 

189
00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:11,920
right timing for you, no 
problem. 

190
00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,200
Just get on the wait list and 
you'll be notified the next time

191
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,960
I offer it. 
And I also have some other 

192
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,240
classes that I'm planning for 
Q1. 

193
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,320
They haven't been scheduled yet,
but to find out more about those

194
00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:28,280
you want to get on the wait 
list. 

195
00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,120
So that is what I wanted to 
share with you today. 

196
00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,360
You know, it's kind of wild. 
I feel like coming into 

197
00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:39,520
December, it always feels like a
surprise, like we're here in 

198
00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,560
December already. 
Where did the time go? 

199
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:48,320
Indeed, Where did the time go? 
The time goes where it always 

200
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:49,360
goes. 
It goes away. 

201
00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:55,240
But what we can do is we can 
practice placing our attention 

202
00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:58,320
in the moment so that when 
you're here, you're really here.

203
00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,640
And we can practice making 
decisions and committing to them

204
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,000
and moving forward and then 
letting things go so we can 

205
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,880
arrive in the new moment without
carrying the baggage of self 

206
00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,880
doubt or hesitation with us. 
And that's something that takes 

207
00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,960
some practice. 
The good news is that you're 

208
00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,880
really good at learning. 
You could not have lived to 

209
00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,920
adulthood if that were not true.
So I know you've already got 

210
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,040
that in you. 
That is what I wanted to share 

211
00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,760
with you today. 
Thank you so much for listening.

212
00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:31,880
I will be back. 
I just don't know when. 

213
00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,800
But follow me on LinkedIn, 
connect with me, stay in touch, 

214
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,000
and I will be back when I will 
be back. 

215
00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:45,800
Have a beautiful, peaceful and 
joyful New year and I'll talk to

216
00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:52,400
you again next time. 
When you're more effective at 

217
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:54,320
work, you're happier in your 
life. 

218
00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,760
And when you're happier in your 
life, you're more effective at 

219
00:14:57,760 --> 00:14:59,440
work. 
I can help. 

220
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:04,040
Go to my website, kimnickel.com 
and sign up for a coaching 

221
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,480
consult. 
It can get better.