Basically they talk about the time management. You can easily understand this by creating these quadrants for yourself to check how you can be the odd one by applying these fundamentals to your daily life.
Let’s understand this with an example of quadrant
Quadrant of Urgent & Important:
| Urgent | Not Urgent | |
| Important | ||
| Not important |
There is a table created for you, now if I ask you what are the things you think are important & urgent for you fill them in the concerned column or row.
And mention the things which are important but not urgent. In the same way fill the details with urgent but not important the same way not urgent & not important.
Let’s explain this with a very good example:
Fill 90 % in front of urgent (on priority) & important as these are the tasks which are urgent & important for you.
In important & not urgent: You can fill with your future goals, Skills, personal attributes etc.
In Not important & urgent section: you can fill the things which you do not want in your life but are urgent for you e.g. unwanted things, allergy, diabetes, guests etc.
Everyone should learn this in life to check what the main components are where he needs to understand & work on the things to bring a good change in life.
Let’s check it.
| Urgent | Not Urgent | |
| Important | (1)
90%, On priority, Deadlines to complete the task.
|
(2)
Goal, Learning Skills, some personal attributes, any long-time event or degree |
| Not Important | (3)
Some diseases, guests, any sudden task which has a serious severity |
(4)
TV,Mobile, games, gossip which does not play any important or urgent role in life |
Urgent & Important: By taking a look on the table you can try understanding it. As there are many things which are important in your life & you work on them but instantly or suddenly some things arise & become urgent for you for example somebody gets serious disease & visiting to the doctor becomes urgent for you. But if you take things urgent & important together & take them serious it will definitely change your life positively.
Important but not urgent: If you have a big goal & that will take time to achieve then that is important for you but most of the time you do not consider that as urgent. Also some long time attributes like developing some skills, behavior etc. take time to make change but again you don’t take them as urgent till the time there is an emergency to complete that.
But if you take the attributes which are in 2nd section to the section 1. It will help you to grow faster towards your goal and make you happy.
Not important but urgent: Diseases which do not to hold your body also not important for you but once you are diabetic & it is on the initial level you do not consider that as important but urgent & you start taking medicine for that considering that it will cure the disease. Later when the sugar level increases it becomes urgent also and moves to the quadrant no. 1.
Not important, Not urgent: now time is changed & people have started focusing on the things which are not important in life like games, unhealthy chitchat, etc.
I am sure with the help of this table you must have understood where exactly are you focusing on and where should you move your focus exactly. Where is the need to spend time to make your life easy & healthy.
The need is there should be less or no role of section 3 & 4 in your life. Always try working on this & experience the change in you & your life. You would feel like a miracle has happened.
There is another table which shows what you have and what you don’t have versus what you don’t have & what you don’t want.
Let’s understand this as well.
Quadrant of your Condition:
| I have
|
I don’t have | |
| I want | (1)
|
(2) |
| I don’t want | (3)
|
(4) |
Understand this table & fill it with what exactly you want in life, what you don’t want versus what you have and what you don’t have.
Now in section 1 mention the things you have & want in life for example strength, family, friends, goal etc.
In 2 mention what are the attributes you don’t have but you want in life.
In section 3 write what you have but don’t want them to be a port of your life. E.g. Diseases.
In section 4 mention what you don’t have & even don’t want to make a part of your life.
| I HAVE | I DON’T HAVE | |
| I WANT | (1)
Family, Money, Happiness, stress free life, Quality time with friends & family, Celebration
|
(2)
Opportunities, Money, Healthy and Happiness, stress free life |
| I DON’T WANT
|
(3)
Weakness, stress, diseases (diabetes), Anger, State of being sad
|
(4)
Diseases, cancer, fat, crises etc. |
Go through the table & you will find the attributes which are there in one section are there in other sections also. It is because these attributes keep moving from one attribute to other as per the situations & conditions. As time in which you are right now will not remain the same all the time. It keeps changing so the conditions & life also.
I HAVE: In section 1 it shows the attributes you want & have which are clearly understandable as everyone wants supporting family, money, stress free life, quality etc. And obviously everyone would love to move other attributes to this section also as not one wants to be a part of the other sections.
I DON’T HAVE: Every person does not have good opportunities but want them in his life. This can be applied to money, happiness etc.
I DON’T WANT: I am sure you must have understood this. Yes you are right no one wants to have stress, diseases like diabetes, bad faces of life, and unwanted habits like smoking. But many people still have the same. But when you work on anything like diabetes then you move to the section number 2 as you have cured it.
I DON’T HAVE & I DON’T WANT: This sections is very important if we understand this clearly. It is as like as the quadrant of urgent & important. It has life threats, diseases and anything which you feel should be a part of your routine.
This quadrant of your present time shows you the actual picture of life at the moment. And this is a fact that you keep changing the quadrants accordingly.
As it keeps moving in these sections then you should take this as a part of life & accept it reframe it according to you & celebrate the moments of joy when you achieve the attribute you want to be completed for yourself.
Now if I talk about how would you design the quadrant for happiness vs. anxiety or the things on which you don’t have any control.
Try this as well.
Quadrant of Happiness vs anxiety:
| Control | No control | |
| Action | (1) | (2) |
| No action | (3) | (4) |
Try to put things which you think are completely in control but you still working on them to be in control.
You are taking actions but are not in your control.
Those things can be in control & no one is taking any action to control it.
I am sure there are many things which are not in control & don’t require any action from your side.
| Control
|
No control | |
| Action | Weight, Being positive, diabetes, Office work | Earthquake, someone who is in trauma, |
| No Action | Hopelessness, anger, relationships, etc | Acceptance mode: create positivity |
This one is as interesting as this quadrant shows the attributes which can be worked upon but we don’t even look at the factors which we need in life & to be worked upon on a serious note.
Action & Control: Everyone has weight as per his body, mass & index (BMI) level but it will be in control till the time the person is working on it. Also if someone does not want to be diabetic then till the time he is taking action to work on it that will be in control.
You will be able to complete your work till the time you are taking actions to complete the same.
No Control & Action: You keep taking the actions to get someone out of trauma but there is no control over him as he should get up at the same time. Similarly you don’t have control over earthquakes. But once it happens your actions are most required to control that situations.
No Action & control: Many things which can be controlled but you are not at all serious about them. This is the sections where 99 % people stuck in life. Most of the diseases are in their control but they need to control their eating habits, anger, anxiety, stress, depression etc.
No action & No control: There is only one thing you can do in this and that is the acceptance of whatever is happening. Understand whatever happens in life happens for a reason. Either the condition gets controlled from your side or the other side. But no action & control required from your side.
You can use these quadrants as and when required. If you are stuck somewhere and need guidance for yourself. These can be the quadrants of most of the people’s lives and I am sure when you will try with any of your situation you will definitely find the solution for the same.