First Things First

The first three habits of Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" are about independence. The first habit says that you're the creator. The second habit tells you to decide what you want to create. That is, it tells you to come up with a mental picture of what you want to create. The third habit, first things first, is about the physical creation of the life you want. It's the day-in, day-out, moment-by-moment doing it.

Covey indicates that the best time management advice is the following: "Organize and execute around priorities". In other words, stop trying to do it all. Instead, decide what's most important to you and do that.

Covey talks in his book about his wife Sandra who was invited to serve as chairman of a committe in a community endeavor. She was honored to have been asked, but she was working on several things which were truly important to her and she didn't want to do it. However, she felt pressured into it and so she agreed. Sandra then called a dear friend to ask her if she'd serve on the committe, and here's what her friend said:

"Sandra, that sounds like a wonderful project, a really worthy undertaking. I appreciate so much your inviting me to be a part of it. I feel honored by it. For a number of reasons I won't be participating myself, but I want you to know how much I appreciate your invitation."

When Sandra hung up the phone she turned to her husband and said: "I wish I'd done that." In order to take care of your priorities you have to learn how to say "no" to things which are not in line with your goals and objectives. I talk more about this in my posts "No" Your Way to Increased Productivity and Three Awesome Productivity Tips.