In the last two lessons, I shared Habits 1 and 2 with you from my favorite personal development book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.
Today, we’ll be taking a look at Habit 3: Put First Things First.
Let’s get into it…
Habit 3: Put First Things First
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities” —Stephen Covey
“Putting first things first” means to organize and execute around your highest priorities.
Instead of getting lost in the hustle n’ bustle of putting out fires all day long, or switching from one task to another without a real game plan.
☝️ Not only is this very unproductive, but it’s also why some folks end their workdays feeling like they haven’t really accomplished anything at all, despite working hard all day long.
But here’s the good news: Habits 1 and 2 show you how to figure out what you really want—and once you know what you want, you can plan your days accordingly…
Part of that planning involves saying “no” to the unimportant, and “yes” only to those things we’ve deemed to be our highest, most important priorities.
The essence of “putting first things first” is to make sure we’re spending our time with the people and things that matter most to us.
One great way to do that is to look at Covey’s “time-management matrix,” which outlines the four “quadrants” in which we all spend our time:
Q1. Important and Urgent
Q2. Important but not Urgent
Q3. Urgent but not Important
Q4. Not Urgent or Important
To be effective we need to:
– take care of everything in Q1 (important + urgent stuff) and then
– spend as much of our remaining time as possible in Q2 (important but not urgent stuff)
Bottom line: maximize your time in Q1 + Q2, and minimize your time in Q2 + Q3.
Actionable insights
A great process for putting first things first is as follows:
Write down your most important roles in life—both personal and professional.
Next, think about the areas within those roles that you would like to invest consistent time and energy into within the next week.
Now, define one or two things/goals/actions you want to achieve in each role within the week.
Finally, schedule time in your week to achieve these goals.
Writing all of this down allows you to look at your life against the backdrop of your principles and values and make adjustments where necessary.
Chances are, you’ll find that you’re not spending most of your time and energy on what you truly value unless you have already gone through this process… so go through the process!
