First Things First | Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, ...

First Things First | Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, ... | Very useful thoughts and concepts

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First Things First

	First Things First Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, ... Free Press, 1996 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 71 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Covey's Best Work

With due respect to Roger and Rebecca, who are unsung heroes in the Covey pantheon, this book is probably the most helpful of Covey's works with regards to clarity and transferance into application.

I loved the 7 Habits but wasn't sure where to start. This book helped - the mission statement workshop, the six step process, Win/Win Agreements. Truly transformational.

Very useful thoughts and concepts

Okay, I will admit it: I never managed to get all the way through Seven Habits..., even though I know people who read it cover-to-cover every year!

First Things First was much more accessible to me, and it has some very useful things to say about the differences between "urgent" and "important" - and why things that are important but not urgent are often neglected in the desperate rush to get the urgent stuff done. How can we differentiate between the two? There are some clear guidelines here, as well as great steps to take to make sure we have our own Important things identified and prioritized.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is feeling overwhelmed by little things, frustrated with traditional time management, and in need of some tools to bring clearer focus to their life and their goals.

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A Revolutionary Resource!

As someone who juggles many different responsibilities and a crowded calendar, I approached this title with high expectations. I was not disappointed! Covey here offers a revolutionary resource for time management. Rather than following the standard theme of how to do more in a given period of time, the author emphasizes the importance of setting priorities and planning ahead. His analogy of the clock and the compass is priceless in describing the two elements that should both be balanced in our prioritizing and scheduling.

I've been exposed to many varied techniques of time management, but have not experienced anything as revolutionary and life-transforming as this title. For anyone who can't find enough time to "get everything done that needs to be done," I highly recommend this book. It's been a huge help to me!

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A MUST Read

Having read more than a dozen books on the subject of mission statements, goal setting and time management, and also having taught workshops on the subject myself, this is the one book that I find most useful. As some other reviewers point out, it may seem a little heavy in parts, but the details are well worth studying.

As the authors emphasize, time management doesn't begin with managing time, it begins with finding our own individual purpose, establishing our mission, and setting our goals to achieve that mission. This is more than a "how to" book. It is a "why to" book. It has the ability to persuade people that they need to set written goals. In teaching young adults, I have found some that insist they don't need written goals and that they certainly don't need a mission statement. My response is to encourage them to read this book.

I appreciate how persausive the authors are in encouraging the reader to find the "main thing" without getting trapped into becoming a success in just one small area rather than fulfilling four areas of the "quadrant," including physical, social, mental and spiritual. Moreover, they bring home the necessity of finding balance and staying balanced in the different roles we have in our lives. After you read this book, I recommend that you consider reading "The Power of Full Engagement" by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, and "Finding Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. You won't be disappointed.

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Prioritizing is the heart of First Things First

No one can deny Covey's success as the self-help, how-to author of the 1990s. First Things First attempts to show readers how to look at their use of time to help create a balance between their personal and professional responsibilities by "putting first things first" and acting upon them. Covey teaches an organization process that helps the reader categorize tasks so that he or she can focus on what is important, not merely what is urgent. Many insights within the book are profound, e.g. "Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things." The real human needs are "to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy."

The quintessential advice is first to lay out your life in four quadrants labeled urgent, not urgent, important, and unimportant. A task may have a deadline but not much importance; or, a task may be important but require preparation and planning. The authors say that one should stop doing what's unimportant and without urgency. Where the important and the urgent intersect is where you need to expend most of your energies, so the theory goes. Assuming that urgency announces itself, the real question is knowing what's important, and the authors draw from a variety of sources to guide you toward determining what is important.

At nearly 400 pages, overloaded with concepts, sometimes explained in a way that makes ideas even more complex than they are, the book requires concentration to get through it. It has sold well and is considered one of the anchors of the genre.

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