Put First Things First

"Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you."- DR. STEPHEN R. COVEY

No doubt you have experienced arriving at work with a list of things to do and your organizer full of meetings and other important tasks. And likely, at least one or two urgent and important situations will arise that trumped your planned-out day, pushing back the important but non-urgent items you had intended to address.   

Putting first things first asks us to align our activities with the vision we have in life as in business.  

Let’s say you decide that a successful life means you have started your own company, helped to protect natural areas for future generations, and developed meaningful relationships in business and in life.  

Depending on how much time you spend imagining and detailing your life vision, you will have a very clear sense of how deeply it connects with what you truly value. You might paint in broad strokes and say you want to be successful and well-respected but going into these ideas more deeply, you may recognize that you want your life to be the product of integrity and diligence. 

We put first things first when we measure and organize what we do against how well those things contribute to our mission in life and as part of a team and organization.  

From the dream into physical reality

Putting first things firsts requires a clear sense of where you are going so you can effectively structure your time and tasks daily to support that. 

This is not easy work - you must ask yourself what you really want to do and who you want to be in this life... and then keep a consistent read on how well your daily actions align your mission in life and as part of a team. 

Taking the step of putting first things first moves your dream into physical reality. By harmonizing your actions with your goals or objectives, you will create a highly effective, meaningful life, both professionally and personally. 

The Time Matrix

The time matrix is an important tool in TimeXtender to focus on your highest priorities.

Find out in this short video how the time matrix allows you to schedule your work according to what's most important and what will have the most meaningful outcome.

The Big Rocks

Since our time is limited (represented by the jar in this video) we have to be mindful of our choices - what we choose to do with our time. Because time matters..