Decision making

eisenhower matrix onenote

So you typed eisenhower matrix onenote into Google, hoping to turn that trusty Microsoft notebook into a productivity ninja. Good news: you’re in the right place. Below I’ll show you three ways to build an Eisenhower Matrix inside OneNote, plus a cheeky fourth option—using StaMatrix—that skips the drawing, colouring and formula headaches altogether. Let’s get you out of “urgent everything” mode and into “important first” mode.

eisenhower matrix onenote: why even bother?

OneNote is free, syncs everywhere, and you already have it. The Eisenhower Matrix (a.k.a. Urgent-Important Matrix) is the fastest way to decide what deserves your next hour and what can politely wait. Combine the two and you get a living, breathing to-do board that lives in your pocket. No extra apps, no subscriptions—just clarity.

Method 1 – the old-school table trick

  1. Open a new page in OneNote.
  2. Insert → Table → 2×2.
  3. Label the quadrants:
    • Do First (Urgent + Important)
    • Schedule (Important, Not Urgent)
    • Delegate (Urgent, Not Important)
    • Eliminate (Neither)
  4. Colour the headers green, blue, orange, grey so your brain spots them fast.
  5. Drag tasks straight into the boxes. OneNote’s check-boxes (Insert → To Do Tag) let you tick stuff off with a single click.

Pro tip: shrink the table width until it looks square; that gives you the classic four-quadrant look on mobile without sideways scrolling.

Method 2 – sticky-note hack for visual thinkers

If you like Kanban boards, this one’s for you.

  1. Draw View → Rule Lines → Grid so you get a dotted background.
  2. Insert → Shapes → Rectangle. Draw four big squares.
  3. Inside each square, drop smaller yellow rectangles (your sticky notes).
  4. Group the little rectangles so they move as one: Ctrl+click each, then right-click → Group.
  5. Duplicate grouped stickies when new tasks pop up.

Touch users can drag tasks around with a finger; desktop users can arrow-key nudge. Either way, you get the tactile feel of a whiteboard without the marker fumes.

Method 3 – template page you can duplicate

Tired of rebuilding the grid every Monday? Save it as a template.

  1. Build your perfect Eisenhower table once.
  2. Right-click the page name → Set as Default Template.
  3. Next time you need a fresh matrix, New Page → Blank Page uses your template automatically.

Bonus: email the page to yourself (Home → Email Page) and you’ll get a PDF backup that still looks pretty.

eisenhower matrix onenote limitations (the honest bit)

OneNote is brilliant for scribbles, but it’s still a notebook, not a calculator. If your tasks have hidden dimensions—budget, effort, risk, fun factor—the classic 2×2 grid can feel, well, two-dimensional. You’ll end up with twenty items in “Do First” and no clue which one actually wins. That’s where StaMatrix sneaks in.

StaMatrix: the Eisenhower Matrix on steroids

Imagine an Eisenhower Matrix that lets you add extra axes: “How much money does this save?”, “Will my boss notice?”, “Does it align with my 5-year plan?” StaMatrix lets you do exactly that. Instead of just urgent vs. important, you create as many parameters as you like, give each a weight (1–5 stars), score your tasks, and boom—an instant ranked list. No spreadsheet formulas, no neon highlighters.

Here’s the 60-second workflow:

  1. Tell the built-in AI assistant: “I’m drowning in client requests, side projects and study goals.”
  2. StaMatrix autofills a table with parameters like Urgency, Impact, Learning Value, Fun, Energy Required.
  3. Fiddle with the weights until they feel right (maybe Fun matters more this month—slide it to 5).
  4. Score each task 1–10. The algorithm spits out a clear winner at the top.
  5. Export the final list straight back into OneNote (copy-paste) so you still live in your favourite notebook, but now you’re working on the right stuff.

Think of it as Eisenhower Matrix plus a dose of maths espresso.

Quick comparison cheat-sheet

Feature OneNote native StaMatrix + OneNote
Visual 2×2 grid ✔️ ✔️ (export back)
Multi-parameter scoring ❌ ✔️
Auto-sort by priority Manual Instant
AI pre-fill ❌ ✔️
Mobile friendly ✔️ ✔️

Real-life example: choosing which certification to study

Let’s say you’re torn between AWS, PMP and a UX bootcamp. In OneNote you could park each in “Schedule” because none are urgent. Helpful? Sort of. In StaMatrix you add parameters: Career Boost, Cost, Time to Complete, Enjoyment, Market Demand. You weight Career Boost and Market Demand highest (5), Cost lowest (2). Score each course, hit calculate, and PMP floats to the top. Decision done, guilt gone, back to Netflix—uh, I mean, studying.

TL;DR – your next 3 clicks

  1. Still love OneNote? Drop a 2×2 table on a fresh page and colour it—takes 30 seconds.
  2. Want deeper clarity? Open StaMatrix, type your dilemma, let the AI build your custom matrix.
  3. Copy the ranked list back into OneNote so you keep living in the app you already open 50 times a day.

That’s it. No more 3 a.m. “what should I tackle first?” panic. Whether you stay pure eisenhower matrix onenote or level up with StaMatrix, you’ll finally work on what matters—and still have time for coffee. Go nail those quadrants!