'Get in the Habit' of putting First things First, Habit #3

The third habit has to do with integrity & execution; the principle being that effectiveness requires the integrity to act on your priorities with discipline & willpower.

The paradigm to think of is not to put urgent things first but to put important things first instead. Your behaviour should be to focus on top priorities, eliminating the unimportant. Also to plan your routines and schedules daily and weekly. This results in increased organization and productivity. A more balances life with fewer crises and a peace of mind. You also earn a reputation of always following-through with your decisions and plans.

"Where you're headed is more important than how fast you're getting there."

The way to put first things first is to think of a compass and a clock. When balancing your life decisions.

The compass represents your effectiveness, relationships and important things - how you manage your time, and with what?

The clock represents your efficiency, scheduling and things you think are urgent - what you feel matters the most and should be used with the compass.

"I watched the Indy 500, and I was thinking that if they left earlier, they wouldn't have to go so fast." - Steven Wright

The most important aspect I've learned from this habit is how to prioritize. Stephen Covey developed a Time Matrix to help us categorize our daily tasks and emergencies to let us realize how important or unimportant they really are.

There are 4 quadrants of the time matrix that you can prioritize your decisions by... they are chosen by things that are urgent or non & important or not. These quadrants are: Necessity, Effectiveness, Deception & Waste/Excess.

You should try to live your life 'north of the line' taking care of quadrant 1 and 2 priorities first before tackling any from quadrant 3 or 4. Do first things first and the little things will fill in the rest.

Quadrant One are things that should be taken care of first and foremost. These are things like homework, studying for tests and immediate emergencies.

Quadrant Two are second-hand things that can be dealt with but after all your emergencies are taken care of. Things like planning and preparing events or projects, changing the oil in your car or taking the time to clarify your values such as we did in Habit #2.

Quadrant Three can be defined as other's priorities/expectations on you that still must be met. Things like minor assignments or helping to solves other's issues.

Quadrant Four is the final level of tasks that should always be completed last. These are things like surfing the web with no purpose (like on Facebook or Instagram,) watching TV or playing videogames.

Think about all of the things you've done recently; over the past week or so... What are the chronic quadrant Three activities in your personal or work life right now? What are the things you should be keeping in quadrant One or Two but have replaced with quadrant Four?

Please leave any comments with your thoughts, or if you have any tips on how to reduce quadrant Three and Four from taking over.

 

Up next: '...and it's sweet, sweet, Sweet Victory, yeah'... into Independence