# Features of Eisenhower Matrix for Todoist

> A detailed tour of Eisenhower Matrix for Todoist: Clean and Classic matrix views, quadrants as Todoist labels, filters and presets, the daily review, Single Task Focus, the Pomodoro cycle, ambient sounds, focus statistics and privacy.

Source: https://eisenhowertodoist.com/features/ · Last updated: 2026-10-09

Eisenhower Matrix for Todoist is a web app that shows your Todoist tasks in the four Eisenhower quadrants and helps you act on them: sort by urgency and importance, plan each day with a short review, and work one task at a time with a focus mode and a Pomodoro timer. Everything reads from and writes to your own Todoist account, so there is no second task list to keep in sync.

- **Works with:** Todoist, connected through Todoist’s OAuth
- **Runs on:** Any modern browser, desktop and mobile
- **Quadrants saved as:** Todoist labels on each task
- **Price:** 7-day free trial, then $4.99/month or $19.90 once

![Eisenhower Matrix for Todoist, Clean view: Do First with a late task and two due today, Schedule, Delegate and Backlog, with the keyboard shortcut strip above.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/clean-matrix-view.webp)

*The Clean view with demo tasks. Every screenshot on this page is the real app running on invented data.*

## Who it is for, and who it is not for

### A good fit if you

- already keep your tasks in Todoist and want to see them by urgency and importance;
- want the sorting saved in Todoist, not in a separate app;
- like planning the day in a few minutes and then working one task at a time;
- use a keyboard a lot, or want a Pomodoro timer next to your tasks.

### Probably not for you if you

- don’t use Todoist: the app has no task list of its own;
- need to work offline: tasks are read from and saved to Todoist live;
- want a native App Store or Google Play app: it is a web app;
- are looking for AI that decides priorities for you: optional AI suggestions only propose a quadrant, and nothing moves until you accept it.

## Clean and Classic views

The matrix comes in two layouts that show the same tasks. Press `V` to switch, or use the Clean / Classic switch above the matrix. The app remembers your choice in the browser.

### Clean (the default)

A quiet cross layout: urgent on the left, important on top. Each quadrant shows a large count, a one-line summary (“1 late · 2 today”, “Next: Tomorrow”, “No dates”) and its tasks grouped by when they are due: *Late*, *Today*, *This week*, *Later* and *Someday*. Long quadrants scroll inside their own area, with a “more” pill that shows how many tasks are further down.

- Move with the arrow keys (or `J` `K` `H` `L`), act on the highlighted row with one key, and press `E` to expand a quadrant to the full width.
- Click a quadrant header to fold it; double-click to expand it.
- A strip above the matrix teaches the main keys. Press `?` for the full list, or hide the strip once you know them.

### Classic

The traditional grid of four coloured cards, one per quadrant, each with a short description and a task count. Task cards show the due date, an overdue or today badge and the task description.

![Classic view: Do First and Schedule cards side by side, with task cards showing due dates and Overdue or Today badges.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/classic-matrix-view.webp)

*Classic view: the four-card grid.*

## Quadrant sorting with Todoist labels

Each quadrant is stored on the task in Todoist as an ordinary label, so your sorting shows up in every Todoist app and survives if you stop using this one.

- **Do First** (Urgent · Important): Do it now, one at a time. Examples: A client deliverable due today; A bug that blocks customers; A bill due tomorrow. Todoist label: @do.
- **Schedule** (Not urgent · Important): Give it a date or a time block. Examples: Planning next quarter; Exercise and health check-ups; Writing the proposal before it is due. Todoist label: @schedule.
- **Delegate** (Urgent · Not important): Hand it off, batch it, or say no. Examples: Meetings where you only listen; Routine requests and forms; Ordering supplies, booking travel. Todoist label: @delegate.
- **Backlog** (Not urgent · Not important): Drop it, or park it for later. Examples: Reorganising files that work fine; “Someday” ideas; Aimless scrolling. Todoist label: @backlog.

- **One quadrant per task.** Moving a task replaces its old quadrant label; your other labels stay. Matching ignores case.
- **Categorize.** The header button shows how many tasks have no quadrant yet. It opens a sheet that steps through them one at a time: press `1`–`4` to sort, `←` to go back, `→` to skip. **Recategorize** re-sorts tasks that already have a quadrant.
- **Move from the matrix.** Press `1`–`4` on a selected row. Every move shows a notification with **Undo**.
- **Several at once.** `Ctrl`/`⌘` + click, or `X` and `Shift`+`X` for a range, then move them with `1`–`4` or the bar at the bottom.
- **Add straight into a quadrant.** `N` (or “Add to …” at the end of a quadrant) creates the task in Todoist with that quadrant’s label, so it needs no sorting.
- **Auto-prioritize (optional).** In Settings › Automation, move tasks from any quadrant into Do First once a night when they are due soon. You choose how many days ahead, and whether tasks due today and overdue tasks are included.

## Filters, saved presets and Todoist filters

On desktop the filters live in one compact toolbar row above the matrix. Every filter applies to all four quadrants at once, and to the Single Task Focus queue.

![The filter row with the saved preset “Work week” applied: Project Work and Date This week, with Label and Priority unset, and the matrix narrowed to matching tasks.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/filter-bar-applied.webp)

*A saved preset applied: project Work, due this week.*

| Filter | What you can pick |
| --- | --- |
| Project | One or more projects, from a searchable list. Type to search, Enter or click to toggle, Backspace removes the last one. |
| Label | One or more of your Todoist labels, from the same kind of searchable list. |
| Priority | P1, P2, P3 and P4, as in Todoist. |
| Date | Overdue, Today, Today & overdue, Tomorrow, This week, Next week or Next month. |
| Subtasks | Hide subtasks, to see only top-level tasks. |

- **Saved presets.** Save the current combination under a name, reapply it from *Saved*, and star one as the default: it is applied when the app opens, unless you have already set filters in that session.
- **Your Todoist filters.** The filters you saved in Todoist appear under *From Todoist*. Applying one shows the tasks that filter matches in Todoist, sorted into quadrants. They are read-only here; you create and edit them in Todoist.
- **Clear all** resets everything in one click.

## Rename, complete with Undo, dates and snooze

You can do the everyday edits without leaving the matrix. Each one is written to the task in Todoist.

- **Rename in place.** Double-click a title, or press `R` (or `F2`) on the highlighted row. `Enter` or clicking away saves, `Esc` keeps the old name. The new name shows at once, the notification offers **Undo**, and if Todoist rejects the save the old name comes back. In Classic cards and in Single Task Focus, double-click the title.
- **Complete with Undo.** Press `Space` or click the circle. The notification offers **Undo**, which reopens the task in Todoist, subtasks included. Undo isn’t offered for recurring tasks.
- **Due dates and deadlines.** `D` opens the date picker (Today, Tomorrow, Next week or a calendar) and `Shift`+`D` the deadline picker.
- **Comments.** `C` opens the task’s Todoist comments, where you can read, add, edit and delete them.
- **Snooze on mobile.** Swipe a task left to move it to tomorrow; swipe right to complete it; press and hold for more options, including dates, a deadline, moving to another quadrant and opening the task in Todoist. Recurring tasks aren’t snoozed; the app asks you to reschedule them in Todoist.

## The daily review

A two-minute morning plan in three steps, **Clear → Choose → Commit**. It opens by itself once a day (not on the day you sign up), and the **Daily Review** button in the header opens it any time. *Skip today* closes it for the day.

1. **Clear** Every task that is overdue is listed with how long it has waited (“Since yesterday”). For each one: complete it, move it to today, move it to another quadrant, or skip it for now. Recurring tasks can be moved to today too. It also shows how many tasks you finished yesterday.
2. **Choose** Pick up to three tasks for today from Do First and Schedule (tasks due today or later, and undated ones). A few are tagged *Suggested* by a plain rule: due today first, then Do First, then Todoist priority. *Use suggestions* picks them in one click. No AI is involved.
3. **Commit** Confirm the plan. Your picks become Today’s focus.

![The daily review’s Choose step: “Pick today’s focus”, with two Do First tasks due today picked as Suggested and numbered 1 and 2.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/daily-review-choose.webp)

*Choose: up to three tasks, with plain-rule suggestions.*

## Today’s focus

The tasks you picked sit in a panel above the matrix all day, numbered in the order you chose them, with their quadrant, due date and priority, and a ring that fills as you complete them. Complete a task from the panel and it is completed in Todoist. *Edit* changes the picks; the × clears them. When a saved Todoist filter hides one of them, the panel says “Hidden by filter” instead of marking it done.

![The Today’s focus panel above the matrix with three numbered tasks: Prepare Q4 budget review, Reply to client proposal, Draft the 2027 product roadmap.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/todays-focus.webp)

*Today’s focus: three picks, above the matrix.*

## Single Task Focus

Select a task and press `Enter` to put just that task on screen (on a phone, use the focus button in the bottom bar). The rest of the matrix waits in a queue, so finishing one task leads straight into the next.

- **The queue is your filter.** It holds every task the matrix shows under the current filter, in matrix order from Do First to Backlog, with today’s focus tasks first. The header names the filter and a segmented line shows your progress.
- **Complete and keep going.** `Space` completes the task and the next one slides in. For five seconds, `U` (or the Undo button) reopens it in Todoist and brings it back. After the last task, the view tells you the queue is done.
- **Notes that sync.** `E` opens a note under the task. It saves as you type and goes to the task in Todoist as one comment when you close it or move on.
- **Search the queue.** `/` or `⌘`/`Ctrl`+`K` lists the open tasks in the queue; type to narrow, `↑` `↓` and `Enter` to jump. The timer keeps running.
- **Related tasks.** `R` shows up to three open tasks with a similar title, the same labels or the same project.
- **Everything else you need.** The task’s priority, due date, deadline, labels, description (with clickable links) and subtasks, which you can tick off or add to without leaving Focus. `←` `→` step through the queue; `Esc` closes search, then notes, then exits with a short session summary.
- **On another device.** If Focus is running on your other device, a banner shows the task and its time so far, with **End session**.

![Single Task Focus: the task Prepare Q4 budget review with priority, labels, description and a note, above the Pomodoro timer card showing 13:36 left, Focus, Short break next, Round 1 of 4.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/single-task-focus-pomodoro.webp)

*One task, its note and the timer. The queue is “All tasks”: 20 tasks, all quadrants.*

## The Pomodoro cycle

The timer card in Single Task Focus runs a full Pomodoro cycle: focus round, short break, focus round … and a long break after each set. The big clock counts down the current phase (*LEFT*, *BREAK*, *NEXT*, or *OVER* if you keep going), and a small line keeps the session’s total focus time.

| Preset | Focus | Short break | Long break |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Classic (default) | 25 min | 5 min | 15 min |
| Deep | 50 min | 10 min | 20 min |
| Light | 15 min | 3 min | 10 min |
| Custom | 5–120 min | 1–30 min | 5–60 min |

- **Rounds per set:** 4 by default, 2–6 in Custom.
- **Auto-start:** breaks start on their own by default; focus rounds wait for you, so time away is never counted as focus. Both are switches in Pomodoro settings.
- **Chime:** an optional sound at the end of each round and break (off by default).
- **Keys:** `P` pauses and resumes. `B` starts a break when a round is done, skips a running break, and starts the next round when a break is over.
- **Breaks are pauses.** Break time is not counted as focus, so your statistics stay honest. The timer keeps running while the tab is in the background, and can be minimised to a small bar.

![The timer card during a short break: 02:23 BREAK, “Stand up, look far away.”, Back at 09:10, Round 1 of 4, 25m focused, with a Skip break button.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/pomodoro-short-break.webp)

*A short break after round 1: the ring drains and the card says when you’re back.*

## Ambient sounds

Nine background sounds for focus, from the speaker button on the timer card, with a volume slider:

| Noise | Nature |
| --- | --- |
| White noise: a steady hiss | Rain: gentle rainfall |
| Pink noise: soft and balanced | Ocean: rolling waves |
| Brown noise: deep and warm | Stream: flowing water |
|   | Wind: a soft breeze |
|   | Fireplace: a crackling fire |
|   | Forest: birds and rustling |

The sounds are generated in your browser, so nothing is streamed. They loop seamlessly, fade in and out, crossfade when you switch, and are matched in loudness so switching doesn’t jump in volume.

## Focus statistics

Every stay in Single Task Focus is recorded as a session: its focus time without pauses or breaks, its deep focus, its pauses, the tasks you completed and the filter you worked from. Sessions shorter than two minutes are not kept. **Statistics › Focus** shows them by **day**, **week** or **month**; the arrows step back and forward.

![Focus statistics for last week: 8h 02m focus time with a 1h 30m daily goal met on 2 of 7 days, 7h 12m deep focus, 8 sessions, 9 tasks completed in focus, a bar per day and the sessions list.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/focus-statistics-week.webp)

*A week of focus: totals, a bar per day with the goal line, and every session.*

- **Four numbers:** focus time, deep focus (and its share of focus time), sessions (average and longest) and tasks completed in focus, each compared with the period before.
- **Deep focus** counts stretches of 25 minutes or more without a pause.
- **Daily goal (optional):** 1h, 1h 30m, 2h, 3h or 4h of focus a day. It draws a line on the chart and counts the days you met it.
- **Charts:** the day view is a timeline of focus stretches and pauses; week and month show a bar per day, split into deep and other focus. Click a bar to open that day.
- **Every session**, grouped by day, with a focus/pause strip, the tasks completed (with quadrant colours) and the filter used. Delete one with a confirmation and five seconds to undo; completed tasks stay completed. If the timer ran on while you were away, edit the session’s focus time.
- **Time by task:** the time each task got in the period, with time you add or correct by hand for work away from the timer. **Copy report** (also in a Jira-ready format) or **Download CSV**.
- **Where your time went:** the period’s time on tasks by quadrant, compared with the period before.

The Statistics page also has task statistics (completed tasks over time and by quadrant), an active-day streak, achievements and a points-based level.

## Mobile and installable

The app runs in your phone’s browser with a layout made for touch:

- quadrants as stacked cards with large task rows;
- a bottom bar to jump to a quadrant, turn on Single Task Focus and add a task;
- gestures: swipe right to complete, swipe left to snooze to tomorrow, press and hold for more options;
- a full-screen Single Task Focus with the same Pomodoro cycle; swipe sideways to move between tasks;
- `eisenhowertodoist.com/focus` opens the app straight into Single Task Focus and asks which task first.

Add it to your home screen from the browser’s share or menu button and it opens in its own window, like an app. There is no separate App Store or Google Play app, and it needs an internet connection.

![The app on a 390-pixel-wide phone screen: the Do First card with five tasks and the bottom bar with Do, Sched, Deleg, Back and Add.](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/assets-static/img/mobile-matrix-390.webp)

*On a phone (390 px wide).*

## Keyboard shortcuts

Most of the app can be driven from the keyboard. The essentials:

| Keys | Action |
| --- | --- |
| `↑` `↓` `←` `→` | Move between tasks and quadrants (also `J` `K` `H` `L`) |
| `1`–`4` | Move to Do First, Schedule, Delegate or Backlog |
| `Space` | Complete |
| `Enter` | Open in Single Task Focus |
| `V` | Switch Clean / Classic |
| `P` · `B` | Pause · start or skip a break (in focus) |
| `?` | Show all shortcuts |

See the [complete keyboard shortcut reference](https://eisenhowertodoist.com/keyboard-shortcuts/).

## Display and settings

- **Light and dark themes**, from the sun button in the header.
- **Density:** compact, default or comfortable rows.
- **Show tags** (your other labels on each task) and **nest subtasks** inside their parent, both in Settings › Display.
- **Confetti effects** when you complete tasks, if you like them.
- **Accounts:** sign up with email and password or with Google.

## Privacy and your data

You connect Todoist on Todoist’s own authorisation page, so the app never sees your Todoist password. It asks Todoist for read and write access to your data (the scopes `data:read_write`, `data:delete` and `task:add`). Requests to Todoist go through the app’s server.

| In Todoist, the app… | What |
| --- | --- |
| Reads | Your active tasks, projects, labels, saved filters (and the tasks they match), and task comments. |
| Writes, when you act | Quadrant labels on tasks; completing and reopening (Undo); new names; due dates and deadlines; new tasks; comments you add, edit or delete, including focus notes; a new label if you create one in the label picker. |
| Writes, if you turn it on | Auto-prioritize changes the quadrant label of tasks nearing their due date to `do`, on a schedule. |
| Never | Imports or copies your task list into a separate database. |

**What the app stores:** your login, your Todoist connection and access token, and what its own features create: task completion history and statistics, streaks and achievements, focus sessions, daily reviews, notes and goals, filter presets, preferences and subscription records. Some display choices, such as Clean or Classic, are kept only in your browser.

**Leaving:** revoke access any time in Todoist’s settings under Integrations. To remove everything the app stores, open the account menu, choose **Delete Account** and type `DELETE` to confirm. Your tasks in Todoist are not affected. Deleting the account doesn’t cancel a Gumroad subscription; manage that from your Gumroad library.