Free Eisenhower Matrix Template
Fill in the matrix below in your browser. When you are done you can print it, save it as a PDF, download it for Excel, or open it in Quadful and keep working from it. You don’t need an account for any of it.
Eisenhower Matrix
Urgent and important. Do it today or tomorrow.
Important, not urgent. Give it a day.
Urgent, not important. Who else can do it?
Neither. Drop it.
Free and no account needed. Your tasks go onto a board you can keep working from.
Try Quadful online for free. No account required: www.quadful.com
What goes in each quadrant
A client problem that has to be fixed today, a report due tomorrow morning, a bill due this week.
Planning next quarter, exercise, learning a skill you need, a conversation you keep putting off.
Most meeting requests, routine emails, booking travel, small favours someone else can handle.
Scrolling feeds, reorganizing files that already work, meetings without an agenda.
Filled-in examples
Three matrices filled in for different situations. Two tasks per box is enough to see the pattern.
- Finish the lab report due Friday
- Study for Monday’s exam
- Start the thesis outline
- Apply for summer internships
- Ask a teammate to format the group slides
- Reply to the club group chat
- Reorganize the notes app
- Watch one more episode
- Fix the outage on the checkout page
- Approve this week’s payroll
- Plan next quarter’s goals
- Career talk with each person on the team
- Book the offsite venue
- Collect weekly status updates
- A recurring meeting nobody needs
- Polishing internal slides again
- Pay the electricity bill due tomorrow
- Pick up the prescription
- Book a health check-up
- Plan the summer trip
- Ask your partner to order groceries
- Have the car washed
- Rearrange the bookshelf
- Compare phone cases
A paper template or an app?
A paper or PDF matrix works well for a one-off sort, for example on a Monday morning or before a busy week. The trouble starts a few days later. New tasks arrive, deadlines move closer, and a task that sat in Schedule is suddenly urgent. A sheet of paper can’t move anything, so the matrix goes stale and you are back to a plain list.
Quadful is a to-do app built around the Eisenhower Matrix and designed to follow the rules of the method. The whole board is one page with the four quadrants, and you can act on every task from there: drag it to another box, mark it done, star it or give it a due date. Focus mode shows only the few tasks that come first, and Re-organize takes you through your open tasks one at a time when the board gets crowded. Goals and separate workspaces for work and personal life are included.
The template above uses the same four boxes, so whatever you write in it goes straight onto your board when you click “Open in Quadful”.
New to the method? Read the complete guide to the Eisenhower Matrix.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Eisenhower Matrix template free?+
Yes. You can fill it in, print it and save it as a PDF without an account. Opening it in Quadful is free as well.
How do I get the template as a PDF?+
Click “Print or save as PDF” and pick “Save as PDF” as the printer. Boxes print with ruled lines, so you can also print a blank sheet and fill it in by hand.
Is there an Excel version of the template?+
Yes. Click “Download for Excel” under the matrix. The file has the four boxes with twelve lines each and prints on one landscape page. It also opens in Google Sheets and Numbers.
How many tasks should be in Do First?+
As few as possible. Most people can finish three to five urgent and important tasks in a day. If Do First keeps filling up, plan more ahead in Schedule.
How often should I update the matrix?+
Sort new tasks as they come in and look over the whole matrix once a week. Tasks change boxes over time, mostly from Schedule to Do First as deadlines get closer.
