In Habit Two of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, we identify what is important for our lives (Begin With The End In Mind). In the third habit, we take those conceptual goals and make them real by bringing time and effort to bear. Focusing your energy on tasks and activities that are not or just seem important steals time from what is truly important. This makes it both difficult and less likely that we will translate our goals into reality. The classic Eisenhower matrix is a graphic approach to help people sort important from the merely urgent. 

Urgency and Importance Matrix

Putting First Things First lays out the necessity of exercising our independent will (our decisions, our motivation) to focus on our goals. In this habit, Covey uses a 2×2 matrix with importance on one axis and urgency on the other. Quadrant one contains those items that are urgent and important, and quadrant four contains items neither important nor urgent. Covey suggests that important and not urgent activities are more aligned with our long-term goals. The activities that are urgent and important represent crises that are short-term focused. The quadrants that include activities that are not important do not connect with our goals, and even though they might be comforting, completing activities in these quadrants does not comport with putting first things first. Consistent movement towards “putting first things first” requires making as much time as possible for the important and not urgent.

Finding the time to focus on what is important becomes a self-management activity. Covey’s mechanism for managing higher-order and weekly goals is reminiscent of Kanban. Managing activities and tasks, a backlog, requires understanding and linking our roles, goals, and activities. Activities can then be prioritized and scheduled. Daily, we need to assess and adapt our plans (this is what a daily meeting is ALL about, rather than a quick status meeting).

Attacking what is important begins by saying no to those unimportant activities. Saying no frees up time to devote to what is important. For example, on cold, rainy mornings, it is very easy for me to decide to answer non-urgent emails rather than going out to run. Answering typical emails rather than running isn’t prioritizing my time.

Once you have tackled the important/not important dichotomy, the next step is to reduce the tyranny of the urgent. While we rarely can say no to urgent tasks, the best option is to plan, execute, and delegate better so fewer “important and urgent” tasks are on our to-do list. Avoiding short-term crises where possible and saying no to activities that do not move us closer to our goals will give us time to Put First Things First.

Support the Software Process and Measurement Cast by buying a copy of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, and read along!

Previous Installments:

Week 1: Introduction and Be Proactive

Week 2: Begin With The End In Mind

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