My Love/Need Decision Matrix

This take on the Eisenhower Grid has been a huge game changer.

Photo by Susan Kirsch on Unsplash

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This post was first published in my Substack newsletter, Then See What Happens.

It started out as a way to help me decide what to keep and what to get rid of, in the way of physical things. Because 2022 is my year of clearing out.

I’ve been aware of the Eisenhower Grid for years. It’s a time management tool that encourages you to put tasks in one of four boxes. Important and Urgent, Important, but not Urgent. Not Important, but Urgent. Not Important, Not Urgent.

This tool has never been the best for me. For whatever reason, the words ‘important’ and ‘urgent’ give me anxiety. I start to feel like everything is both important and urgent. And my brain starts to kick up every important/urgent thing it can come up with.

Next thing I know, I can’t breathe.

But I like the concept a lot. Because anything that removes emotion from things like this and helps me to see what’s obvious is a good thing. So, when I was trying to find a way to help myself make decisions about what to keep and what to . . . um . . . rehome . . . I changed the words.

Love and Need

My love/need matrix on the back of my editorial calendar. (Photo: Author)

I actually doodled my love/need matrix with a Sharpie on the back of my editorial calendar. Clearly, I’m a closet artist. Right?

Not so much.

But, I ended up with a visual of the concept that I think will make a huge difference in this, my year of the Great Curate.

There are four possible choices:

• Love and Need
• Love and Don’t Need
• Don’t Love and Need
• Don’t Love and Don’t Need

Each of those quadrants of my matrix triggers an action.

• If I love something and need it — I keep it.
• If I love something, but don’t need it — I have a choice…