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A different take on Quadrants

cek1227 says:
The Four Quadrants from Covey are very helpful, but not conducive to how I go through tasks. So, I've put together the following scheme - it's 5 quadrants, but who's counting?

Go through the GTD daily review to adjust due dates and priorities.

Only put due dates on things that really have due dates.

Priorities mean:
1 - Must do
2 - Should do
3 - Might do
0 - Could do

The "quadrants" are:

Q1: Must do today (dueBefore:tomorrow AND priority:1)

Q2: Should do today or must do soon ((dueBefore:tomorrow AND priority:2) OR (due:never AND priority:1))

Q3: Might do today or should do soon ((dueBefore:tomorrow AND priority:3) OR (due:never AND priority:2))

Q4: Could do today or might do soon ((dueBefore:tomorrow AND priority:none) OR (due:never AND priority:3))

Q5: Someday (due:never AND priority:none)


Process Q1 as much as possible, then Q2 and then Q3. If there's any time left, do Q4. Review Q5 on your weekly review.

For ease of list management, the smartlist I use to show Q2 *also* includes Q1, so that I can see everything in one place. Likewise, the smartlist I use to process Q3 also shows Q1 and Q2. If that's too busy, don't do it.

Keep your due dates and priorities right on a daily basis, and this helps keep the main thing the main thing.

From these smartlists, I have related smartlists for each of my contexts (work, home, other).
Posted at 10:03pm on December 12, 2013
mgm says:
I like this because of it's pragmatism. Will try it out immediately.
Posted 10 years ago
raymond.bergmark Power Poster says:
Brilliant! Easy setup and with the added bonus of mixing this with different contexts you get a nice, flexible system.
I bet you'll shortly be "Tip of the Week" winner!
Posted 10 years ago
mehardin says:
I like whatever system works for you. But it seems to me Covey's quadrants (OK, he didn't come up with them, he just popularized them) are about focusing on those things that are important but not urgent. This still seems to prioritize the urgent to me. Just a thought.
Posted 10 years ago
cek1227 says:
I understand what you're saying, but it's not doing that for me. In fact, it's getting me more into the important-but-not-urgent quadrant. In my line, I do have a lot of legitimately urgent matters, but as long as I only put dates on things that truly have due dates, then I'm more in the correct quadrant with this system than ever. However, I have no delusions that it will end up doing the same for anyone else.
Posted 10 years ago
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
raymond.bergmark is right: this is a deserving Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner. :)

cek1227, we've added a free year of Pro to your Remember The Milk account -- thanks for sharing your take on quadrants!
Posted 10 years ago
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