I’M SURE YOU HAVE HEARD OF THE Eisenhower Matrix, or Ike Box. People tell me that Stephen R. Covey wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People inspired by a speech General Dwight D. Eisenhower gave. A speech that defined the relationship between important and urgent things.
The larger Ike Box has four quadrants: important + urgent, not urgent + important, not important + urgent, not important + not urgent. While I have heard of this being applied in management, lately I’ve seen fitness gurus and life coaches referring to the Ike Box.
They are putting fitness in the ‘not urgent + important’ box. And fitness is not alone there. It is accompanied by a good diet, good sleep habits and the like. All the things that don’t deserve to be at the top of your list today, but are still very important. Ignore them today, and they will move themselves to the top of your list for sure. Hence, this cover story by Special Correspondent Pooja Biraia.
Last week also marked the second edition of THE WEEK Heritage Awards, where Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was the chief guest. Heritage, both tangible and intangible, has been a continued theme in THE WEEK. Recently, we had the cover on manuscripts and this week we have Senior Correspondent Shubhangi Shah’s article on Worli Koliwada and The Heritage Project’s (THP) work to preserve the heritage of the people and the location. THP is an initiative headed by Radha Goenka of the RPG Foundation.
From Mumbai, cross over to Kolkata to read Special Correspondent Prema Rajaram’s article on how trade unions are responding to the Suvendu Adhikari government’s push for an industrial revival in West Bengal. It is an interesting scenario, considering that the BJP launched its first trade union at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on October 31. It is called the NSCBI Airport Contractors’ Workers’ Morcha.
Senior Assistant Editor Pratul Sharma looks at Uttar Pradesh and the role that smaller parties will play in the upcoming assembly polls. He feels that as identity politics grows, bigger parties can no longer win all seats on their own. Hence, smaller and regional parties will play the kingmaker.
We also continue our coverage of international affairs that affect India directly or indirectly. With the Democrats sweeping the mid-term elections in the US, it is clear that the US is enraged with President Donald Trump’s decisions that have led to a ballooning of living costs. In Israel, the picture is less clear, as neither does Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have a clear majority nor does the opposition have the numbers to oust him. Both articles come from Senior Assistant News Editor Ajish P. Joy.
Coming back to the cover and Pooja’s intro about implanted sensors that will track our health continuously, I am reminded of a conversation I had with K.S. Sachidananda Murthy, our resident editor in New Delhi. Sachi’s US-based sons, Nithin and Rohan, had gifted him one of those smartwatches that tracked health parameters. I think it was an early-series Apple Watch. The boys, who doted on him, tracked his exercise regimen and called when Daddy missed his daily quota of steps.
I told him that it was a sweet gesture. “They are spying on me, sir!” quipped Sachi. This October marked three years since Sachi’s passing.
