What are the most important things in your life? Do they get as much care, emphasis, and time as you'd like to give them? Far from the traditional "be-more-efficient" time-management book with shortcut techniques, First Things First shows you how to look at your use of time totally differently. Using this book will help you create balance between your personal and professional responsibilities by putting first things first and acting on them. Covey teaches an organizing process that helps you categorize tasks so you focus on what is important, not merely what is urgent. First you divide tasks into these quadrants:
Important and Urgent (crises, deadline-driven projects)
Important, Not Urgent (preparation, prevention, planning, relationships)
Urgent, Not Important (interruptions, many pressing matters)
Not Urgent, Not Important (trivia, time wasters)
Most people spend most of their time in quadrants 1 and 3, while quadrant 2 is where quality happens. "Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things," says Covey. He points you toward the real human needs--"to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy"--and how to balance your time to achieve a meaningful life, not just get things done. --Joan Price
Stephen R. Covey, husband, father, and grandfather, is an internationally re-spected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organizational consul-tant, founder of the former Covey Leadership Center, and cochairman of Franklin Covey Company. He hold
Introduction
Section One THE CLOCK AND THE COMPASS
1 How Many People on Their Deathbed Wish They'd Spent More Time at the Office?
2 The Urgency Addiction
3 To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy
Section Two THE MAIN THING IS TO KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING
4 Quadrant II Organizing: The Process of Putting First Things First
5 The Passion of Vision
6 The Balance of Roles
7 The Power of Goals
8 The Perspective of the Week
9 Integrity In the Moment of Choice
10 Learning from Living
Section Three THE SYNERGY OF INTERDEPENDENCE"
11 The Interdependent Reality
12 Rrst Things First Together
13 Empowerment from the Inside Out
Section Four THE POWER AND PEACE OF PRINCIPLE~ENTERED LIVING
14 From Time Management to Personal Leadership
15 The Peace of the Results
Epilogue
Appendices
Appendix A: Mission Statement Workshop
Appendix B: A Review of Time Management Literature
Appendix C: The Wisdom Literature
Notes
Problem/Opportunity Index
Index
