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I'll refer to this grid quite often, so let's quickly take a look at each of the four categories of tasks.
Necessary work includes tasks that are unattractive yet productive. Team meetings. and calls about your quarterly budget fall into this quadrant. We usually have to push ourselves to do this type of work.
Unnecessary work includes the tasks that are both unproductive and unattractive- like rearranging the papers on your desk or the files on your computer. We usually don't bother with these tasks unless we're procrastinating on doing something else or resisting a task that falls into the necessary work or purposeful work categories. Spending time on unnecessary work tasks keeps us busy, but such busyness is just an active form of laziness when it doesn't lead to actually accomplishing anything.
Distracting work includes stimulating, unproductive tasks and as such is a black hole for productivity. It includes social media, most IM conversations, news websites, watercooler chats, and every other form of low-return distraction. These activities can be fun but should generally be indulged in small doses. The better you become at
managing your attention, the less time you'll spend in this quadrant. The remaining box on the chart is purposeful work-the productivity sweet spot.
These are the tasks we're put on earth to do; the tasks we're most engaged in as we do them; the tasks with which we make the largest impact. Very few tasks fit into this box- most people I've encountered have three or four at most. Doing good work in this category usually requires more brainpower, and we are often better at these types of tasks than other people are. An actor's most purposeful tasks might be to rehearse and perform. A financial adviser's purposeful tasks might be to make investments, meet with
