Habit 3: Put First Things First

Before you begin this section of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Personal Workbook, read pages 154–195 in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Each day has its own purpose and fits into the great plan of our lives.
This very moment carries traces of our life purpose in places where we
focus our attention, in words or ideas that bring a tingle of excitement
and hope in our heart.

—CAROL ADRIENNE

In order to live a more balanced life, you have to recognize that not doing everything that comes along is okay. There’s no need to over-extend yourself anymore. All it takes is realizing that it’s all right to say no when necessary and then focus on your highest priorities. But before you can move ahead, you need to become clear about who you are and what you really want. Habit 1 says, “You’re in charge. You’re the creator.” Being proactive is about choice. Habit 2 is the first, or mental, creation. Beginning with the end in mind is about vision. Habit 3 is the second creation, the physical creation. This habit is where Habits 1 and 2 come together. It’s day-in and day-out, moment-by-moment, doing it. It deals with many of the questions addressed in the field of time management. But that’s not all it’s about. Habit 3 is about life management as well—your purpose, values, roles, and priorities.

FIRST THINGS?

What are “first things”? First things are those things you, personally, find most worth doing. If you put first things first, you are organizing and managing time and events according to the personal priorities you established in Habit 2.

The successful person has the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is
subordinated to the strength of their purpose.

—ALBERT E. N. GRAY

Basically, we spend our time in one of four ways, as illustrated in the Time Matrix below. This matrix defines activities as “urgent” or “not urgent,” and
“important” or “not important.” Let’s see where you spend most of your time.

Highly effective people do not really manage time—they manage themselves. While most of the world spins around in Quadrant I, reacting to urgent matters and managing one crisis after another, people who spend a majority of their time in Quadrant II are leading balanced, serene, and ordered lives. They are planning and executing according to their highest priorities.

Highly effective people are able to manage themselves so well in relation to the precious resource of time because they live the 7 Habits, which are Quadrant II activities. Everyone deals with fundamentally important things that, if done on a regular basis, would make a profound difference in the quality of their lives.