Putting first things first in your life

Putting first things first in your life

First Things First; Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill,
Rebecca R. Merrill; 360 pages; Published by Simon & Schuster,
New York, New York; Dahulukan Yang Utama (Indonesian
translation); 450 pages; PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta.

JAKARTA (JP): Ever get frustrated that you never seem to have
enough time to do everything you're supposed to do, not to
mention the things you actually want to do? Ever wondered why it
is that, in spite of careful planning in scheduling your
activities, you still don't feel all right at the end of the day?
Ever felt that your family life is getting in the way of your
career, or that you're missing out on family life because of your
career?

Take some time out and get a copy of First Things First to get
some answers that could transform your life. The book, on time
management, virtually commands you to change your way of life and
your way of looking at life.

My initial reaction on seeing the title of the book was: "So
what else is new? It's a question of getting your priorities
right. Right?" Wrong. The book says you have to do more than just
get your priorities right. It tells you to continually examine
your vision, your goals in life, and then to organize your life,
and time, accordingly.

Rather than scheduling your priorities, you should prioritize
your schedule, the book says. Almost every day, we're rushed into
doing things that are urgent. But very often the urgent things we
do are not important, or are not the most important things in our
life. We do them simply because they are urgent, because we have
a deadline to meet. We never stop to question their relative
importance.

Stephen R. Covey, author of the best selling book The 7 Habits
of Highly Effective People, has teamed up with A. Roger Merrill,
a well known leader in time management, and his author wife
Rebecca R. Merrill, to put together a book that attempts to
change the way people manage their time in this modern, high-
pressure, business-like rat race.

In essence, the authors' message is that our life should be
governed by an inner compass, and not by a clock; that we should
have principles in life and that we should live by those
principles. They tell us to set our goals in the various roles
that we all have -- in the office (as boss and subordinate), in
the family (as spouse, child and parent) and in the community. If
we organize our lives properly in accordance with our goals,
these various roles will enhance one another, rather than compete
with one another, for our time and attention. At least, so they
argue.

Here is a book on time management that tells us to strive for
effectiveness rather than efficiency. It is a major departure
from the conventional time management concept that tells us to
aim for efficiency -- to do as much as possible within the
shortest time possible.

Easier said than done. Sure it is. But First Things First
doesn't just say it. It guides the reader, step by step, in
understanding as well as in applying this new concept. It's even
got a game plan -- the weekly chart -- which, if you decide to
follow the system, should be used as your planner.

It's got a number of exercises -- one of them testing the
reader's urgency addiction. Don't be surprised to find that your
life has been governed by urgency rather than by importance, or
by clock rather than by compass. There is also a brief workshop
in an appendix that helps you define your mission statements.

To put across their point, the authors use a matrix that
divides daily activities into four parts:

Quadrant I for both urgent and important, dealing with crises,
pressing problems, deadline-driven projects, meetings,
preparations.

Quadrant II for important but not urgent, dealing with
preparation, prevention, values-clarification, planning,
relationship-building, true recreation, empowerment.

Quadrant III for urgent but not important, dealing with
interruptions, phone calls, mail, reports, meetings, and many
proximate, pressing matters and popular activities.

Quadrant IV for not urgent and not important, dealing with
trivia, busywork, junk mail, phone calls, time wasters and escape
activities.

Most people spend too much of their precious time on either
Quadrant I and Quadrant III, the authors argue. They say that we
should spend more time on Quadrant II, which they call the
"quadrant of personal leadership".

In determining what's important, the authors say each person
has four basic needs to fulfill: to live, to love, to learn and
to leave a legacy. They say we have four capacities with which to
fulfill these needs: self-awareness, conscience, independent will
and creative imagination. Using and developing the four
endowments to meet the four needs is the basis of their time
management concept.

First Things First presents what the authors call the "Fourth
Generation" of time management. It takes the best out of the
three previous generations, they claim, while leaving behind
their weaknesses.

I could not help feeling that at least certain parts of the
book were imbued with religious values. The authors, having
already come across the charge that their ideas smack of
religion, are quick to explain early in the book that they are
not talking about "religion". This is probably acceptable if we
take the narrow definition of the term. But using the wider
definition of religion as a way of life, as it is understood by,
say, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism, the book does have some of
the universal religious traits.

The authors even write in the epilogue:

"Above all, we feel a sense of reverence for God, whom we
believe to be the source of both principles and conscience. It's
our own conviction that it is that spark of divinity within each
of us that draws us toward principle-centered lives of service
and contribution."

The book is filled with examples of the authors' own
experiences, as well as those of their students, in their work
places and in their families.

Several chapters are devoted to applying the time management
concept in family circles and in corporate organizations and on
how to empower yourself and those around you.

First Things First is compelling and powerful, yet easy
reading, for people with a very busy schedule but one which
leaves enough spare time to read its 360 pages.

-- Endy Bayuni