1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Habit 3
If you were to pause and think seriously about the “first things” in our life – the three or four things that matter most – what would they be?
Are these things receiving the care, emphasis and time you really want to give them?
Why is it so often that our first things aren’t first? We have been giving methods, techniques, tools and information on how to manage and control our time. Traditional time management suggests that by doing things more efficiently you’ll eventually gain control of your life, and that increased control will bring the peace and fulfillment you are looking for. Covey disagrees. Basing our happiness on our ability to control everything is futile. While we control our choice of action, we cannot control the consequences of our choices. Universal laws or principles do. Thus, we are not in control of our lives; principles are. Thus…the frustration with the traditional “time management” approach to life.
This is a dramatically different approach to time management. This is a principle centered approach. It transcends the traditional prescriptions of faster, harder, smarter, and more. Rather than offering you another clock, this approach provides you with a compass- because more important than how fast you are going, is where you are headed.
Baby story.
For many of us, there’s a gap between the compass and the clock – between what’s deeply important to us and the way we spend our time.
Our struggle to put first things first can be characterized by the contrast between two powerful tools that direct us: the clock an the compass. The clock represents our commitments, appointments, schedules, goals, activities – what we do with, and how we manage our time. The compass represents our vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction – what we feel is important and how we lead our lives. The struggle comes when we sense a gap between the clock and the compass- when what we do doesn’t contribute to what is most important in our lives. Can you walk your talk? Do you feel trapped, controlled by other people or situations? Are you spending your time responding to crises? Are you constantly caught up in “the thick of thin things” – putting out fires and never making time to do what we know would make a difference. Do you ever feel like your life is being lived for you?
Wake up calls…

2. Habit 3: Put First Things First
The Habit of Personal Management
Go back to their mission (last session) and pose this question: “How many of you on your deathbed wish you had spent more time at the office?”
We are constantly making choices about how we spend our time. We are also living with the consequences of those choices.
Putting first things first is an issue at the very heart of life. Almost all of us feel torn by the things we want to do, by the demands placed on us, by the many responsibilities we have. We all feel challenged by the day-to-day and moment-by-moment decisions we must make regarding the best use of our time.

3. Without taking a lot of time, answer the following questions and think about what comes to mind. Explore any recurring theme.
What values are most important to you?
What interests you most?
What do you feel passionate about?
What is important to you?
What do you want to accomplish?
What do you want to contribute?
What do you believe in?
What is your potential?
What are your strengths?
What do you stand for?

4. Prioritize, and do the most important things first.

5. Time Management Matrix
URGENT
NOT URGENT I
Crises
Pressing Problems
Deadline Driven projects, meetings, preparations II
Preparation
Prevention
Values Clarification
Planning
Relationship Building
True re-creation
Empowerment
III
Interruptions, Some Phone Calls
Some mail, some reports
Some meetings
Many proximate, pressing matters
Many popular activities IV
Trivia, busywork
Some phone calls
Time wasters
“Escape” Activities
Irrelevant mail
Excessive TV
IMPORTANT
Two primary factors that drive our choices concerning how we use our time: urgency and importance. Knowing and doing what’s important rather than simply responding to what’s urgent is foundational to putting first things first.
How much does urgency control your life?
Quadrant I represents things that are both “urgent” and “important.” Here’s where we handle the irate parent, meet a deadline, repair a broken-down machine, undergo heart surgery or help a crying child that has been hurt. We need to spend time in Quadrant I. This is where we manage, where we produce, where we bring our experience and judgment to bear in responding to many needs and challenges. If we ignore it, we become buried alive. But we also need to realize that many important activities become urgent through procrastination, or because we don’t do enough prevention and planning.
Quadrant II includes activities that are “important, gut not urgent.” This the Quadrant of Quality. Here’s where we do our long-range planning, anticipate and prevent problems, empower others, broaden our minds and increase our skills through reading and professional development, envision how we’re going to help a struggling son or daughter, prepare for important meetings and presentations, or invest in relationships though deep, honest listening. Increasing time spent in this quadrant increases our ability to do. Ignoring this quadrant feeds and enlarges Quadrant I, creating stress, burnout, and deeper crises for the person consumed by it. On the other hand, investing in tis quadrant shrinks Quadrant I. Planning, preparation and prevention keep many thins from becoming urgent. Quadrant II does not act on us; we must act on it. This is the Quadrant of Personal Leadership.
Quadrant III is almost the phantom of Quadrant I. It includes things that are “urgent and not important.” This is the Quadrant of Deception. The noise of urgency creates the illusion of importance. But the actual activities, if they’re important at all, are only important to someone else. Many phone calls, meetings, and drop-in visitors fall into this category. We spend a lot of time in Quadrant III meeting other people’s priorities and expectations, thinking we’re really in Quadrant I.
Quadrant IV is reserved for hose activities that are “not urgent and not important.” This is the quadrant of waste. Of course, we really shouldn’t be there at all. But we get so “battle-scarred from being tossed around in Quadrants I and III that we often “escape” to Quadrant IV for survival. What kinds of things are in Quadrant IV? Not necessarily recreational things, because recreation in the true sense of re-creation is a valuable Quadrant II activity. But reading addictive liht novels, habitually watching “mindless” TV or gossiping around the water fountain at school would qualify as Quadrant IV time wasters. Quadrant IV is not survival; it’s deterioration. It may have an initial cotton candy feel, but we quickly find there’s nothing there.
Look at the Time Management Matrix. Think back over the past week of your life. If you were to place each of your last week’s activitites in one of the quadrants, where would you say you spent the majority of your time?
NOTE: Think carefully as you consider Quadrants I and III. It’s easy to think because something is urgent, it’s important. A quick way to differentiate between these two quadrants is to ask yourself if the urgent activity contributed to an important objective. If not, it probably belongs in Quadrant III.
Most people spend most of their time in I and III. And what’s the cost? If urgency is driving you, what important things – maybe even – “first things” – are not receiving your time and attention?
Questions:
What is the one activity that you know if you did superbly well and consistently would have significant positive results in your personal life?
What is the one activity that you know if you did superbly well and consistently would have significant positive results in your professional or work life?
Analyze the answers from the group. Most fall in Quadrant II. Typical answers include: improving communication with people, spending time with people, better preparation, better planning and organizing, taking better care of self, seizing new opportunities, personal development and empowerment.
Almost all of answers given fall in Quadrant II. They are important. So why aren’t people doing them? Why aren’t you doing the things you identified from the questions above? PROBABLY because they are not urgent. They aren’t pressing. They don’t act on you. You have to act on them.
NOT IMPORTANT

6. “The key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities.”
-Stephen R. Covey

7. Most urgencies are simply other people’s priorities.

8. Traditional SchedulingM T W Th F Sa Su

9. More Effective SchedulingW Th F Sa Su

10. Live your life
so that your children can tell their children that you not only stand for something wonderful – you acted upon it.
---Dan Zadra