Let’s face it, we live in a very busy world.
We have lots of work responsibilities, home projects, and personal to-do lists. At times, it can feel quite overwhelming.
Most of us here at TimeXtender are very ambitious people. We work hard, we work fast and we look to get things done. With that in mind, let’s take a minute to step back and think about how we can best prioritize all this traffic coming at us. How do we know what to do first?
Working from our homes as many of us now do as part of a distributed team and organization is much different than coming into the office every day.
Working from home calls for higher consciousness and awareness about our own personal leadership and planning.
To help us, there are various tools that can aid us in balancing our days and weeks to achieve proper work/life balance, intended goals and living the purpose we´ve set out to fulfill.
This is where Habit 3 of “Putting First Things First” of the Covey program can help us navigate our personal roadmap.
"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
Putting first things first asks us to align our activities with the vision we have in life and in business. It guides us in developing a clear sense of connecting with goals and objectives that we truly value.
We put first things first when we measure and organize what we do against how well those things contribute to our purpose in life and as part of a team and an organization.
Let’s look at this another way.
Some of the most astute business executives in the world have entered their corporate office with grand visions of substantially improving their company’s value in short order. Generally, there’s two ways to go about this.
The first is to have a comprehensive schedule with numerous items that need to be done.
The second approach is to identify the top three to five most important initiatives to accomplish and then motivate, communicate and align everyone to support these targeted endeavors.
The first method is overwhelming and jumbled and keeps us in an unhealthy and unproductive busy-busy mode that rests on poor planning.
This approach can lead us to being less productive and to lose our sense of purpose and goals.
With that said there are periods in time where we are very busy and this is okay as long as its a conscious choice to work in this mode for a short period of time and where we can see the end of the tunnel.
The second method is focused and reachable. This approach is a conscious choice of focusing on what matters most with a clear goal in mind and being proactive on tasks and projects to achieve that goal.
Habit 3 provides us with clarity for maintaining focus on our most important tasks. Putting first things firsts requires a clear sense of where you are going so you can effectively structure your time and daily tasks to support that.
Habit 3 isn’t just for a top executive of a company, it’s for each and every one of us. So how do we get started?
To begin, ask yourself what it is that you really want to do and who you want to be in business and in life... and then keep a consistent read on how well your daily actions are aligning to these goals.
Further, by adhering to Covey Habit 2, Beginning with the End in Mind, you can sort out and identify your end goal from the outset.
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.
Let’s take a closer look at how putting first things first could work here at TimeXtender. Here’s a list of good habits to help you schedule your week effectively by putting first things first.
This guide should help you stay on top and in control of your calendar so that you can pinpoint proper work items to achieve your goals and alignment as part of a team, organization, family and society.
Give it a try! And remember…
"Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities." - Dr. Stephen R. Covey