Set priorities like a pro with AI

PSA - Chinese reasoning model Deep Seek had a heck of a day today. I posted about what happened in our Spark Community to keep this space for prompts and workflows. And now, on with the show…

It seems like we were wishing everyone a Merry Christmas only minutes ago, and now it’s the 28th of January.

Where did the month go?

I do know where mine went - it’s been mostly in content creation and upgrading our backend systems, and yes, I am a big user of AI to cut through my to-do list, but still… it’s pretty long.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here - over the time I’ve been in real estate I’ve watched agents become masters of juggling while focusing on “dollar productive activity”

Busy and productive are two very different things.

Anyway, I actually felt slightly overwhelmed yesterday, wondering what I should do first.

So, I decided to get AI to sort it out for me with some time-tested productivity wisdom.

Enter the Urgent-Important Matrix

The story of the Urgent-Important Matrix (also known as the Eisenhower Matrix) begins with a man who knew a thing or two about making high-stakes decisions: President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Presidential Origins

As the 34th President of the United States and a five-star general, Eisenhower had to make countless decisions about which tasks demanded his immediate attention and which could wait.

His method for doing so became the foundation of what we now know as the Urgent-Important Matrix.

Stephen Covey Makes It Mainstream

Just like the SCAMPER methodology I posted about the other day, while Eisenhower laid the groundwork, Stephen Covey popularised the matrix in his groundbreaking book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."

He took Eisenhower's decision-making principle and transformed it into a practical time-management tool that anyone could use.

The Digital Evolution

Now this time-tested framework can benefit from a modern technology upgrade.

With AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, we can now analyse and categorise our tasks more efficiently than ever before.

As a refresher, the Eisenhower Matrix divides tasks into four quadrants:

1. Urgent & Important: Crises, pressing problems, deadline-driven projects

2. Important, Not Urgent: Planning, relationship building, personal development

3. Urgent, Not Important: Interruptions, some calls, some emails

4. Neither Urgent Nor Important: Time wasters, busy work, some emails

Each quadrant demands a different approach:

• Q1: Do these tasks immediately

• Q2: Schedule these tasks

• Q3: Delegate these tasks

• Q4: Eliminate these tasks

Using AI to Master Your Matrix

The real magic happens when you combine this classic framework with modern AI tools.

Here's how to do it:

Brain Dump Your To-Do List: Start by gathering all your tasks in one place. Include everything from "respond to buyer inquiry" to "update CRM system". Alternately, write down your to-do list with a notepad and pen (my preferred method!)

Then, Let AI Be Your Analysis Partner: Share your list with ChatGPT or Claude using a prompt like this:

Are you familiar with the urgent/important matrix?
[Let the model respond]

Upload/Paste your list and ask:
Can you please prioritise my to do list according to this method. Ask me any questions you need to to help me sort it out.

I use the “Ask Questions” method in this prompt to make sure that ChatGPT accurately represents what each of these tasks means to me.

You could go further and request it to

1. Justify its reasoning (something good to test with one of the reasoning models like o1 or Deep Seek!)

2. Ask the AI to give you a structured schedule to focus on the Quadrant 1 tasks while helping you block out time for Quadrant 2 activities.

But the question is, does the Eisenhower Matrix really work in today’s dynamic age of doing?

There’s another productivity framework that I prefer - which actually recognises some tasks as time investment - where the benefits compound over a length of time.

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