Habit 3: Put First Things First, Part I [HD BizBlog- The Blog: Productivity in Context]
Welcome to part four of the series on how to implement the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in a Getting Things Done-style system. Because this is a fairly intensive plan to implement, I am writing a series of posts that will guide you through the stages of implementation over seven (or so) weeks. This will give you a chance to focus on each new habit in your life for one full week before beginning the next one.
Each weekly post on the habits is supplemented by a worksheet to help you start focusing on the new habit.
For those of you who may not have read Stephen Covey’s landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Put First Things First. Here, Covey describes a framework for prioritizing work that is aimed at short-term goals, at the expense of tasks that appear not to be urgent, but are in fact very important. Delegation is presented as an important part of time management. Successful delegation, according to Covey, focuses on results and benchmarks that are to be agreed upon in advance, rather than prescribed as detailed work plans.
This habit is so important that Stephen Covey wrote an entire book about it, which I recommend to everyone that I meet! You can order it from Amazon here [link].
“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least” ~ Goethe
The third habit is the practical application of what we learned in the first two habits. Habit 1: Be Proactive puts you in charge of your responsibilities and your environment. Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind shows you the steps that you need to follow to create a path toward completing the various tasks and activities that you are responsible for.
Putting First Things First is the habit that enables you to actualize your principles and values by prioritizing your tasks and actions. The daily exercise of assigning priorities according to your values and principles puts you in control of your current situation and points you toward advancing and achieving your long-term goals.
Ask yourself two questions
Get a piece of paper [or download the worksheet] and write down the answers to these 2 questions:
1) What is one thing that I could do on a regular basis (But I am not doing now) that would make an important positive difference in my personal life?
2) What is another thing that I could do on a regular basis (But I am not doing now) that would make an important positive difference in my work or professional life?
Remember that there is no one “right” answer. Activities that have a positive impact on your life can vary, sometimes wildly. Some folks may have a simple answer like “Lose X pounds by eating a salad and walking for 15 minutes each day at lunch.” Others may have a more complex answer, such as “Improve personal communication skills and team cohesiveness by scheduling a weekly one-on-one meeting with each of the salespeople and going out on calls with them once per month.” Whatever your answer is it likely involves something that you already know that you should do yet, for whatever reason, don’t.
“The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to their strength of purpose.” ~ E.M. Gray
Importance vs. Urgency
Take a look at the answers that you wrote down. Do they reflect an activity or practice that is important to your personal or professional development? Yes? If not, you may have a wrong answer! (more…)
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Original post here: Stephen
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