My Get Things Done List » Blog Archive » Habit 3: Put First Things First, Part II [HD BizBlog- The Blog: Productivity in Context]

Habit 3: Put First Things First, Part II [HD BizBlog- The Blog: Productivity in Context]

Take Control of Your Schedule

Last week we learned about the different ways that our time and effort is spent or invested. This week we will focus on how to establish your personal Roles and how to use them to plan your week.

Before we begin, please download this 7 Habits Weekly Planner in PDF.

This template will allow you lay out your weekly hard landscape at a glance.

Identifying your Roles

Every task that we address and activity that we pursue is an expression of one of the Roles that we play each day of our lives. Whether the role is basic, such as Cook when we make dinner, or more complex, like Husband when I plan and execute our weekend getaway to celebrate our anniversary, every part of our daily lives can be represented by a Role.

When you look over your To-Do list, you should be able to identify which Role each action affects. Some sample Roles:

Spouse
Parent
Mentor
Home manager
Spiritual leader
Office manager
Team member
Employee
Business person/owner
Writer/painter/creative artist

Each person will have their own list of Roles that they play over the course of their daily life, and the list will change over time as new commitments are added and others are completed. Note also, that the majority of the Roles are described as being part of a relationship with another person or group.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind…”
~ John Donne

Look over your list of roles in the context of the coming week, which Roles are affected by up-coming actions? Which Roles would you like to develop or enhance? Write your own list of Roles in the boxes on the left-hand side of the worksheet.