Dwight D. Eisenhower, the thirty-fourth president of the U.S., thought we should devote attention and time to our activities following their importance and urgency. He said that we are too inclined to focus on the things that are both important and urgent. This generates a reactive behaviour based on what has to be done right now, instead of focusing on the important and not urgent things, which would be the basis of a more strategic behaviour based on long-term goals.
Stephen R. Covey popularised Eisenhower’s Time Management Matrix in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, stating that we live in the fourth generation of time management, more effective, in which managing time itself is no longer the aim, but managing where to focus any particular time.