Task Triage Matrix

---
name: task-triage-matrix
description: "Triage an overwhelming task list into what actually gets done — the urgent/important sort applied honestly (with the two corrections the classic matrix needs), the do/schedule/delegate/drop verbs, and the list hygiene that keeps triage from becoming a weekly archaeology dig. Use when asked my task list is overwhelming, triage my todos, everything feels urgent, or what should I actually work on. Produces the sorted list with verbs, the urgency audit (what's fake-urgent), the drop list with permission, and the intake rule."
---

# Task Triage Matrix Skill

Task lists overwhelm because everything on them claims equal standing — the strategic project and the reply-to-Bob sit as peers, and urgency (the loudest signal) wins by default, which is how important-not-urgent work starves for months. The classic urgent/important matrix helps but needs two honest corrections: *urgency is usually inherited, not assessed* (someone else's "ASAP" is a claim, not a fact — audit it), and *the matrix without verbs is a mural* — every task leaves triage with one of four: do (now, timeboxed), schedule (a real calendar block, not "later"), delegate (with the [delegation-brief](../delegation-brief/SKILL.md)), or drop (explicitly, with permission granted).

## What This Skill Produces

- **The sorted list** — every task placed: urgent×important with the two corrections applied, each with its verb
- **The urgency audit** — the fake-urgent unmasked (inherited ASAPs, self-imposed phantom deadlines) with real dates attached
- **The drop list** — the tasks leaving the list forever, with the permission framing that makes dropping stick
- **The intake rule** — the one-question gate that keeps the list from re-bloating

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The list, complete** — everything: the tool's tasks, the sticky notes, the head's carry ([weekly-review-ritual](../weekly-review-ritual/SKILL.md) sweep-grade completeness); triaging half a list re-runs next week
- **What important means here** — importance needs a referent: the quarter's goals, the role's real mandate ("important to whom, for what?"); without it the matrix runs on mood
- **The real deadlines vs. the claimed** — per urgent-claiming task: who set the date, what actually happens if it slips (the audit's raw material)
- **The delegation reality** — who could take what; a delegate-verb with nobody to receive it is a schedule-verb in denial

## Framework: The Triage Rules

1. **Audit urgency before honoring it:** each "urgent" task gets two questions — *who says, and what breaks on slip?* Inherited ASAPs with no real consequence get re-dated honestly; genuinely-urgent-and-unimportant gets the batch treatment (one power-hour, not prime time). The audit routinely deflates a third of the list's urgency, which is the whole game — urgency is the currency of other people's priorities.
2. **Importance needs the referent stated:** "important" = moves the named goals or the role's core mandate — written at the top of the triage. Tasks important to *someone else's* goals are delegation or negotiation candidates, not automatic residents.
3. **Four verbs, no residents without one:** do (today, timeboxed — max 2–3) · schedule (a dated calendar block; "later" is not a date) · delegate (with the brief; "ask X" is itself a small do-task) · drop (see rule 4). A task with no verb after triage is triage refusing its own job.
4. **Dropping is a feature with a ceremony:** the drop list gets said out loud — "these seven are leaving: they've been here six weeks and their absence costs nothing" — with the safety valve for the anxious: a `_someday` file that's *reviewed never by default* (dropped-with-a-net beats hoarded). The six-week-untouched rule nominates candidates automatically.
5. **The intake gate prevents the sequel:** every new task answers one question at the door — "what's the verb and when?" — do-now, scheduled, delegated, or declined *at intake* ([recurring-meeting-pruner](../recurring-meeting-pruner/SKILL.md) door logic, applied to tasks). Lists re-bloat through unverbed intake; the gate is the maintenance system, and triage-the-event is just the reset.

## Output Format

# Task Triage: [N] tasks — importance referent: [the goals/mandate]

## The Sort
| Task | Urgent? (audited) | Important? (to the referent) | Verb | When/who |
|---|---|---|---|---|

## The Urgency Audit
[The deflated: task → claimed vs. real deadline → re-dated · the genuinely-urgent-unimportant batch hour]

## The Drop List (with permission)
[The leavers + the six-week evidence · the `_someday` net for the anxious]

## The Intake Gate
[The door question · the decline scripts for the incoming]

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Every urgent claim was audited to its source and consequence
- [ ] Importance references stated goals, not mood
- [ ] Every task left with one of the four verbs
- [ ] The drop list was dropped explicitly, net included
- [ ] The intake gate is installed with its question

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not honor inherited urgency unaudited — other people's ASAPs are claims, and claims get checked
- [ ] Do not let do-today exceed three — a nine-item today is a wish list wearing a deadline
- [ ] Do not schedule to "later" — later is where tasks go to become archaeology
- [ ] Do not hoard the unimportant-nonurgent quadrant — six weeks untouched is the list's own verdict
- [ ] Do not skip the gate — triage without intake discipline is a diet with free dessert