What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management framework that helps you prioritize tasks based on two dimensions:
- Importance: How much does this task contribute to your goals?
- Urgency: How soon does this task need to be done?
This creates four quadrants:
- Do now: Your top priority right now
- Later: Plan time for these
- Maybe: Lower priority right now
- Skip it: Lowest priority right now, compared with the rest
Klara places your tasks in these quadrants automatically by ranking them against each other, so a quadrant shows where a task stands compared with your other tasks.
Step 1: Create Your First Task
Click the "+" button at the top of the screen to add a new task.
Enter your task details:
- Task name: What needs to be done?
- Importance (1-5): How important is this to your goals?
- Deadline: When it's due (select from presets: today, this week, next week, few weeks, next month, or later)
- Effort: How much time/energy will it take? (minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months)
Examples:
"Sort and declutter storage room"
- Importance: 4 (should get this done)
- Effort: Hours
- Deadline: This week
"Plan birthday party"
- Importance: 5 (really matters to you)
- Effort: Days
- Deadline: Next month
"Complete biology homework"
- Importance: 4 (test coming up)
- Effort: Hours
- Deadline: Tomorrow
Note: Urgency is calculated automatically by Klara based on your deadline and other factors. You don't need to set it manually.
Click Save to add the task.
Step 2: Watch Klara Organize
Klara calculates urgency automatically from your deadline and other factors, combines it with your importance rating, and ranks the task against the other tasks in the project:
- The top quarter → Do now (1 task at a time)
- The next quarter → Later
- The next quarter → Maybe
- The bottom quarter → Skip it
Because the ranking is relative, the same task can land in a different quadrant on a busier project. A task with importance 5 never ranks below Later. Open a task to see what it was ranked against and why it sits where it does.
Your task appears in its quadrant immediately - no manual sorting required!
Step 3: Adjust Deadlines
When creating a task, you must select a deadline. You can change it later for more precise prioritization:
- Click on a task to open the edit dialog
- Click "Set deadline"
- Choose a date (Free tier: Preset options only; Pro: Any date with custom date picker)
- Closer deadlines increase urgency, causing tasks to redistribute to quadrants with higher priority
Pro tip: Tasks due today receive the highest urgency rating, making them highly likely to appear in Do now.
Step 4: Complete Tasks
When you finish a task:
- Click the checkmark icon on the task card
- The task stays in its quadrant, marked as done, for the rest of the day. From the next day it's no longer shown on your board
- Your quadrants automatically rebalance
Smart limiting: Klara limits the Do now quadrant to 1 incomplete task, helping you focus on what truly matters.
Step 5: Sync Across Devices (Optional)
Want to access your tasks everywhere?
Free Tier
- Unlimited tasks to capture everything on your mind
- Cloud sync across all devices (requires account)
- Recurring tasks: Bills, weekly reviews, maintenance
- Up to 3 projects to organize different areas
- Up to 5 collaborators per project for teamwork
- Try it first in the demo on the start page, no account needed. Your demo tasks come with you when you sign up
Pro Tier
All Free features, plus:
- Custom date picker for any deadline
- Postpone tasks to tomorrow
- Unlimited projects: Separate work/personal/projects
- Up to 50 collaborators per project for larger teams
- GitHub Projects integration: See your issues right in Klara
See the Pricing page for current pricing and subscription details.
Next Steps
🎉 Congratulations! You've learned the basics of Klara.
Ready to go further?
- Read the User Guide for advanced features
- Check the FAQ for common questions
- Visit the Pricing page to see what Pro adds
Quick Tips
💡 Focus on "Do now": Start your day with the single task in your Do now quadrant.
💡 Review "Later" daily: Spend 5 minutes each day reviewing your Later quadrant to prevent tasks from becoming urgent.
💡 Check "Skip it": Skip it holds your lowest-ranked tasks compared with the rest, not tasks that don't matter. If one has sat there for weeks, check its importance rating: lower it if the task no longer matters to you, or raise it if it does.
💡 Use effort ratings: High-effort tasks in Do now might be better broken into smaller tasks.
💡 Celebrate wins: Klara celebrates when you complete tasks with a confetti animation - enjoy the moment!
💡 Dark mode: Toggle dark mode in the top right for reduced eye strain.
Need Help?
Can't find what you're looking for?
- 📖 User Guide - Complete feature documentation
- ❓ FAQ - Answers to common questions
- ✉️ Email Support - Get in touch
Start your journey to clarity and calm. Create your first task now! →