Eisenhower Matrix Examples: 6 Filled-In Matrices by Role

Generic Eisenhower Matrix examples -- "respond to emails" in Q3, "scroll social media" in Q4 -- are not helpful when you are a project manager with 40 open tickets or a startup founder deciding between a product demo and a fundraising call. The matrix only works when the tasks inside it reflect your actual role.

After applying the Eisenhower Matrix across 90+ strategy and operations engagements, we have found that the same task lands in completely different quadrants depending on who you are and what you are accountable for. A customer escalation is Q1 for a support lead and Q3 for a CEO. A market research report is Q2 for a marketing director and Q4 for a software engineer.

This guide provides six filled-in Eisenhower Matrix examples for specific professional roles, shows how context changes categorization, and covers a practical triage process for when everything feels urgent. For the methodology behind the framework, see our Eisenhower Matrix Guide. For a ready-to-use layout, grab the Eisenhower Matrix Template.

Why Role-Specific Eisenhower Matrix Examples Matter#

Stephen Covey popularized the urgent-important matrix in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, arguing that effective people spend the majority of their time in Quadrant 2 -- important but not urgent work like planning, relationship building, and prevention. The framework is sound, but the challenge is deciding which quadrant a specific task belongs in.

Research on the mere urgency effect by Zhu, Yang, and Hsee (2018) found that people consistently choose urgent tasks over important ones, even when the important tasks offer objectively better payoffs. Role-specific examples counteract this bias by showing you what "important but not urgent" actually looks like in your context, making Q2 tasks harder to ignore.

Eisenhower Matrix Example 1: Project Manager#

Key insight: Project managers overload Q1 because every stakeholder frames their request as urgent. The test is whether a 48-hour delay creates material consequences. Most "urgent" stakeholder requests are actually Q3: urgent for them, not important for your delivery goals.

Eisenhower Matrix Example 2: Marketing Director#

Key insight: Marketing is a service function -- every department wants "just a quick design." Delegating Q3 requests with clear SLAs protects Q2 time for the strategy work that compounds.

Eisenhower Matrix Example 3: Startup Founder#

Key insight: Founders treat everything as Q1 because the emotional stakes are personal. The fix is defining importance against one metric: does this directly increase revenue, reduce burn, or de-risk the next funding milestone? If no, it is not Q1. For more on systematic prioritization, see how to prioritize tasks.

Eisenhower Matrix Example 4: Management Consultant#

Key insight: Consulting culture pressures people to treat Q3 as Q1 because a partner's request feels non-negotiable. The distinction: does the request advance the client engagement (Q1) or is it operational overhead a junior can handle (Q3)? Senior consultants who delegate Q3 formatting and data compilation free 8-12 hours per week for Q2 work that drives career progression.

Eisenhower Matrix Example 5: Software Engineer#

Key insight: Engineers struggle most with the Q2/Q4 boundary. The test: does the work prevent a foreseeable production issue or improve a metric you are measured on? Refactoring a module scheduled for deprecation is Q4 regardless of how satisfying the code cleanup feels.

Eisenhower Matrix Example 6: Executive (VP/C-Suite)#

Key insight: The executive trap is not Q1 overload -- it is failing to delegate Q3. Effective executives set delegation thresholds: any decision under $50K, any hire below director level, any contract within standard terms gets delegated with a reporting mechanism, not a bottleneck.

How the Same Task Changes Quadrants by Role#

Context determines categorization. Here is how the same task lands differently depending on who you are.

This is why copying someone else's matrix does not work. Your matrix must reflect your goals and accountability. For multi-criteria decisions where two dimensions are not enough, a decision matrix with weighted scoring provides more nuance.

When Everything Feels Urgent: A 3-Step Triage Process#

"Everything on my list is urgent and important" is the most common objection we hear. Research on the illusion of urgency confirms this is a perceptual problem, not a reality. Here is the triage process we use when a client team's Q1 is overflowing:

Step 1: Deadline-test. For each task, ask: does this have a hard, externally imposed deadline within 48 hours? "Hard" means contractual, regulatory, or a client commitment. "My manager would prefer it sooner" is not a hard deadline. Typically, 60-70% of "urgent" tasks fail this test.

Step 2: Consequence-test. For tasks that passed Step 1, ask: what happens if this slips by one week? If the answer involves lost revenue, regulatory penalty, or a broken commitment, it is genuinely Q1. If the answer is "someone will be annoyed," it is Q3.

Step 3: Check whose urgency it is. If a task is urgent for a colleague but does not advance your stated goals, it belongs in Q3, not Q1. As Covey noted, spending time on other people's urgencies while neglecting your own important work is the defining pattern of ineffective professionals.

After this triage, most people find that genuine Q1 drops to 3-5 tasks.

Common Mistakes With Worked Examples#

Mistake 1: Confusing Urgent-for-Others With Urgent-for-You#

A sales rep emails you at 4 PM asking for updated pricing slides "ASAP for a meeting tomorrow." It feels urgent because someone is waiting. But updating pricing slides does not advance your revenue target -- it advances theirs. This is Q3: delegate or provide a self-service template.

The fix: before categorizing any task as Q1, ask "whose goal does this advance?"

Mistake 2: Overloading Quadrant 1#

A product manager lists 15 tasks in Q1. That is not prioritization -- it is a to-do list with a Q1 label. Apply the 48-hour deadline test: of those 15 tasks, probably three have genuine deadlines and material consequences this week. The rest belong in Q2 or Q3.

Mistake 3: Leaving Quadrant 2 Empty#

When Q1 and Q3 fill the week, Q2 gets postponed indefinitely. The irony: neglecting Q2 is exactly what creates future Q1 crises. Skipping the capacity plan means scrambling when three projects hit peak resourcing simultaneously.

The fix: block Q2 time on Monday morning before the week's urgencies arrive. Four hours of protected Q2 time per week prevents more crises than four hours of reactive Q1 work.

Building Your Own Eisenhower Matrix#

Use these examples as starting points, not templates to copy:

1. List 20-30 tasks from your current backlog, inbox, and project tracker.
2. Define your goals. Write down your three most important quarterly objectives. Importance is measured against these, not general intuition.
3. Apply the two tests. For each task: deadline within 48 hours? Advances a stated goal? Sort accordingly.
4. Check the distribution. If Q1 has more than five items, tighten your urgency criteria. If Q2 is empty, you are in reactive mode.
5. Review weekly. Tasks move between quadrants as deadlines approach. A static matrix goes stale within days.

For presenting your prioritization to stakeholders, the Eisenhower Matrix Template provides a ready-to-use 2x2 layout. For the full methodology, see the Eisenhower Matrix Guide, and for how this fits alongside other strategy tools, explore the Strategic Frameworks Guide.