First Things First

by Stephen R. Covey
Overall Summary
For those of you not familiar, First Things First is the third habit of Stephen Covey's famous Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People. It is the habit of prioritization and focus. This book provides an
incredibly powerful method of improvin your daily productivity by focusin your time not so much
on what's urent in your life, but more on what's important in your life.
I hihly recommend this book to anyone who strules because they don't think they have enouh time
to do everythin they want in life.
Section One - The Clock And The Compass
!ettin thins done faster is not the trick " because even if you discover an incredibly powerful method
of personal productivity that enables you to et stuff done at a much faster rate, it doesn#t always solve
the problem of havin lots of thins to do. Covey arues that the real key is knowin how to seek out
thins that are really important to you and focusin on your time and effort on those " and then simpy
fillin in the aps in your life with the other $less important% thins.
1. How Many People On Their Deathbed Wish Theyd Spent More Time At The Office
&ost of the time, people spend their days focused on manain time " rather than manain priorities
in their lives. Covey believes that most time manaement philosophies ma'imize the use of the
moment and makin sure you make it to meetins on time " instead of helpin you focus on the central
$core values% and priorities in your life.
(ne analoy used is that of the parent who discovers suddenly that his)her child is strulin and usin
drus. (bviously, this wasn't intended " and usually the parent can see that had he spent more *uality
time with the child, this may have been prevented. +ut as they look back at their lives, they realize that
they manaed time and not priorities " every day fillin their schedule and ettin thins done and
never makin the priority of spendin *uality time, sittin and talkin with their child ,the most
important thin to reach their desired oal-
!. The "r#ency Addiction
Taken straiht out of the Seven Habits, Covey points out in this chapter that most of us are more
focused on what is urent than what is important " and breaks down e'actly what that means.
Covey breaks down the thins we do into four *uadrants.
$%adrant & / Important and Urgent / crises, deadline/driven pro0ects, and pressin problems
$%adrant && / Important and Not Urgent / preparation, plannin, and relationship buildin
$%adrant &&& / Not Important and Urgent / interruptions, most phone calls and mail and reports
$%adrant &' / Not Important and Not Urgent / trivia, busywork, time wasters, and escape activities
1hen you stop and look at your own life, you will most likely realize that most of what you spend time
doin is in *uadrants I and III, but most of the really valuable thins in life are in *uadrant II. It's often
very difficult to prioritize *uadrant I and III thins to do *uadrant II thins, but accordin to Covey,
that's the difference between workin hard and workin smart " between livin your life efficiently and
effectively.
Impossible
Futures
(. To )i*e+ To )o*e+ To )earn+ To )ea*e A )e#acy
This chapter primarily focuses on introspection and findin the basic core values ,our true north- with
which we make choices in our lives. This process is broken down into three main elements..
The f%lfillment of the fo%r h%man needs and capacities , These needs include physical, emotional,
mental, and spiritual, and Covey arues that all truly profound e'periences come from the point where
all of these meet.
The reality of -tr%e north. principles " 1hether we aree with them or not, principles are concrete
and overn our lives whether we follow them or not. They are social ) psycholoical consistencies that,
much like the laws of physics, act on our lives and overn the results, even when we don't follow them.
The potentiality of the fo%r h%man endowments " In this section, Covey hihlihts the four ideas
that make humans uni*ue. These uni*ue elements of the human psyche are our self/awareness,
conscience, independent will, and creative imaination.

Section Two - The ain Thing !s To "eep The ain Thing The ain Thing
This is the heart of the ideas in First Thins First " understandin that you take the time to make sure
you are doin walk your own talk.
/. $%adrant && Or#ani0in#1 The Process Of P%ttin# 2irst Thin#s 2irst
The process of puttin First Things First is starts with chanin the way we plan out our lives. Instead
of plannin our lives from minute to minute, hour to hour or day to day, Covey recommends focusin
on an intermediate time frame " week to week. 2rioritizin first thins durin that week.
The central idea that Covey presents in this section is that before you plan out a week, you should
identify what your roles are in life " all the hats you wear in the course of your life ,from C3( or
technician to husband and father-. Then identify a oal that you really want to accomplish that week
for each of these roles " and make it happen by buildin time for it into your calendar and seein it
throuh.
3. The Passion Of 'ision
This chapter is a roundin on makin sure you have the end in mind as you walk throuh puttin First
Things First. (nce you have created all the roles that you have chosen in the previous chapter, Covey
asks us to start seein how we would like to be described, within the conte't of those roles " when we
are old and ray. 1hat would you like for people to say about how you acted within each of those
roles4 1hat, within the conte't of these roles, would make you feel like you succeeded4 These
become the central oals of your life, and the choices you make every day should always move you
towards these oals.
4. The 5alance Of 6oles
This chapter, Covey tries to help the reader find a way to feel his life/roles are connected " helps them
find ways to be two roles at once, so that there isn't always a lose/lose compromise with time. The oal
is to find activities ) thins to do that fulfill multiple roles.
7. The Power Of 8oals
Take some time and set real oals. This not only means comin up with them and plannin for them,
but also e'aminin them within the conte't of the rest of your life " makin sure there are no
$conflicts% with your core values or any of your other oals.
5lso in the chapter, Covey pushes for settin mid/term ,s he calls them- week/lon oals for each role
by askin yourself $What are the one or to most important things I co!ld do in this role this ee" that
o!ld have the greatest positive impact#$ 5nd then writin them down and holdin yourself
accountable to the oals.
9. The Perspecti*e Of The Wee:
6ow that roles and oals have been set, Covey takes you to another lever. In this chapter, he focuses
on makin sure that you don't allow the short term to drive the lon term. In essence he arues that you
need to make sure that your oals drive your actions, not the other way around.
7e stronly encouraes that the reader spend some time every week focusin on oals of the comin
week, makin sure they are alined with the lon term and then reflectin and re/committin to the
lon term.
;. &nte#rity &n The Moment Of <hoice
&ost of the decisions that we make from day/to/day are made in the spur of the moment. Covey
arues in this chapter that we need to spend time reflectin, carefully considerin our oals without the
confines of the pressure of life " to make sure that the decisions we make in the future will be best
alined with our oals.
1=. )earnin# 2rom )i*in#
This final chapter of the second section rounds us on what he's discussed so far and ives you tools on
how to review the week that has passed as you bein to prepare for the comin week. This chapter has
a list of ood suestions on how to turn what was ,facin the reality of it- and turnin it into what you
want for the comin week.
Section Three - The Synergy O# !nterdependence
6ow that we've e'plained the basics of the ideas behind First Thins First, Covey uses this section to
show you how the tools presented will help you in your life " specifically while workin with others.
11. The &nterdependent 6eality
In this chapter, Covey arues that $5nythin worth creatin is a collaboration between people, not
thins.% 5nd within that conte't, he presents the idea that the real power behind collaboration is more
in the process than the product produced.
1!. 2irst Thin#s 2irst To#ether
5s life is rarely ever lived in a bubble, Covey takes the concepts presented in Section II to the ne't
level by providin conte't within a team. +ottom line is that most teams, like individuals, don't do the
round work ,the foundational work- necessary to always keep First Things First. +y applyin the
concepts in this book to a team, throuh buildin the roles and oals, workin in the mid/term time
frame ,a week-, and reflectin and reviewin reularly, a team can become dramatically more
effective.
1(. >mpowerment 2rom The &nside O%t
Finally, because most oranizations can't handle this type of chane, this chapter focuses on buildin
from the inside out " by creatin chane within the sphere of influence that does e'ist " buildin trust,
accountability, interity, self/direction and willinness for improved effectiveness.
Section Four - The $ower And $eace O# $rinciple-Centered %iving
The final section of the has e'amples of how applyin this overall philosophy can really make a
difference in life. This section is mostly a motivational ) testimonial section " and well worth the read.
8 Copywriht , 9::;, Impossible Fut ures, <<C