Task Priority Calculator
Score and classify tasks using the Eisenhower matrix and ICE scoring framework to determine what to do first.
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How to use this calculator
- 1
Type in your task name.
- 2
Rate its urgency (how soon it must be done) and importance (how much it matters to your goals).
- 3
Score impact (value if it succeeds), confidence (likelihood it will work), and ease (how simple it is to execute) on a 1–10 scale.
- 4
The calculator outputs your Eisenhower quadrant for time management and ICE score for prioritization among similar tasks.
Frequently asked questions
How does the tool decide the Eisenhower quadrant?
A task counts as urgent if the urgency rating is 3 or 4 and as important if the importance rating is 3 or 4. Urgent and important is “Q1: Do Now”, important only is “Q2: Schedule”, urgent only is “Q3: Delegate” and neither is “Q4: Eliminate”. The two ratings are four-step scales you pick from a list.
How is the ICE score calculated?
ICE score = impact × confidence × ease ÷ 10, with each of the three scored from 1 to 10. Dividing by 10 puts the maximum possible score at 100. Values you type outside 1–10 are clamped to that range, so a 0, which is also what a cleared box becomes, is raised to 1. With the other two scores at their defaults, impact 0 gives 3.5, confidence 0 gives 2.5 and ease 0 gives 3.5.
Do urgency and importance affect the ICE score?
No. The ICE score uses only impact, confidence and ease. Urgency and importance feed only the quadrant. The two results can therefore disagree, as when a task is important but not urgent (Q2) and still scores low on ICE.
What do Must-Do, Should-Do, Could-Do and Won’t-Do mean?
They are labels from fixed cut-offs on the ICE score: 60 or more is Must-Do, 30 to under 60 is Should-Do, 15 to under 30 is Could-Do and under 15 is Won’t-Do. The cut-offs are the tool’s own choice, not an industry standard, so use them to sort tasks rather than as a verdict.
Why can the two answers conflict?
They measure different things. A task rated urgency 1, importance 3, impact 8, confidence 5 and ease 3 lands in Q2 (schedule it) but scores only 12.0 on ICE, so its label is Won’t-Do. The quadrant says it matters, the ICE score says it is costly or uncertain for its impact. Read both rather than averaging them.
Does the task name affect the result?
No. The name is just a text field and is not used in any calculation or shown in the results. To compare tasks, run them one at a time and write down their scores.
Can the calculator rank several tasks for me?
No, it scores one task per run. Enter each task separately and compare the ICE scores, using the quadrant to decide which tasks to schedule, delegate or drop.
Are my ratings objective?
No. Every input is your own judgement, and ICE multiplies three of them together, so small changes in a rating shift the score a lot. Be consistent across tasks by using the same reasoning each time you score impact, confidence and ease.
Task priority: Eisenhower quadrant and ICE score, as coded
Two separate calculations
The Eisenhower step looks at urgency and importance, each chosen from four levels, and applies a simple rule: 3 or higher counts as high. The ICE step looks only at impact, confidence and ease and multiplies them, then divides by 10 so that the maximum is 100. The results are shown together, but neither uses the other’s inputs. That separation is why a task can be “Schedule” and “Won’t-Do” at the same time.
Worked example: a critical task
With urgency 4, importance 4, impact 9, confidence 8 and ease 7, the calculator returns an ICE score of 50.4, the label Should-Do, the quadrant “Q1: Do Now (Urgent + Important)” and the action “Do this immediately — block time today”. The ICE score is high but under the 60 Must-Do cut-off. The quadrant, not the ICE label, is what tells you the task is both urgent and important.
Five tasks, five outputs
The table shows the calculator’s output for five rating sets, including the default. Notice the second-to-last row: a task that is urgent but not important is routed to Delegate, even though its ICE score of 16.2 is Could-Do. The third row is the Q2 example, where importance alone drives the quadrant.
| Ratings | ICE score | ICE label | Quadrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2, 2, 5, 7, 5 (defaults) | 17.5 | Could-Do | Q4: Eliminate |
| 4, 4, 9, 8, 7 | 50.4 | Should-Do | Q1: Do Now |
| 1, 3, 8, 5, 3 | 12.0 | Won’t-Do | Q2: Schedule |
| 3, 1, 2, 9, 9 | 16.2 | Could-Do | Q3: Delegate |
| 1, 1, 3, 4, 2 | 2.4 | Won’t-Do | Q4: Eliminate |
Defaults and fixed thresholds
The default ratings of 2 for urgency and importance are the medium choices, which is why a default task falls in Q4. Moving either rating to 3 changes the quadrant immediately; moving impact, confidence or ease changes only the ICE score. All thresholds, including 60, 30 and 15, are fixed in the code and cannot be adjusted from the page.
Using the output sensibly
Treat the quadrant as a first sort and the ICE score as a tiebreaker among tasks in the same group. Because ICE multiplies three subjective numbers, a single low rating pulls the score down sharply, which is useful for flagging a task that is hard or doubtful even when its impact looks large. Re-score if new information changes your confidence.
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Results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional financial, medical, legal, or technical advice. Read full disclaimer →