Audio Book Pic: 'First Things First' by Stephen R. Covey

by Gale Martin, S. Dale High Center for Family Business, Director of Marketing

I might never have the chance to hear Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People speak in person. But I can tell you that listening to his audio book, First Things First, might be the next best thing.

It takes little more than an hour to listen to. But the wisdom that can be gained in that hour? What's the tagline on that very successful MasterCard campaign? Priceless! He's got some priceless suggestions that might revamp your thinking on time management like it did mine because First Things First is really about life management, which is much more important and much easier to make a mess of than time management.

The Four Quadrants

I want to pull out one concept that may pique your interest in obtaining this audio book. It's Covey's concept of the four quadrants:

Covey contends that most tasks in business, in life, for that matter, fall into one of four quadrants:

• Q1=Urgent and Important;
• Q2=Not Urgent and Important;
• Q3=Urgent but Not Important; and
• Q4=Not Urgent and Not Important

His research together with the work of A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill contends that most adults spend their lives doing things in Q1 and Q3. What's the difference between Q1 and Q3, which are both urgent quadrants? Often the Q3 things that are urgent are imposed on us by others--their need for meetings or materials--needs that don't necessarily mesh with ours.

Sometimes we get so worked up and taxed-out attending to Q1 and Q3 that by default, we slip into Q4 to escape--doing Non-Urgent and Non-Important Things. Go ahead--pick your poison. Doing sudoku, watching mindless TV, surfing the Internet, playing on social media (rather than having a defined purpose for being on FB or Twitter.)

When the quadrant where we should be spending most of our time is Q2--Important but Not Urgent. That's where everyone can gain the maximum benefit.

The Perils of Cramming or Living in Q1 and Q3

He then goes on to offer this example. Consider how farmers would fare if they operated anywhere but Q2. You can't cram a harvest into a month. You can't wait until August to plant seeds and hope to have mature fruits and vegetables by September.

Yet, how many of us try to cram in our adult lives as if we were college kids, letting important, life-changing, business changing tasks go, thinking that we could handle them once they've become urgent matters.

For another example, consider the long-distance runner.  You can't cram preparing for a marathon into a week, having sat on your backside eating potato chips and ice cream for the past year.

After winning you over to the importance of focusing on Q2 more than any other, he then wants you to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the one non-urgent thing that I could do, beginning today, that would make a profound impact on my personal life in the long run?
• What is the one non-urgent but important thing I could do, beginning today, that would make a profound impact on my business life in the long run?

Making a difference

Here's what I identified as two Q2 tasks needing my attention:

• On a personal level, if I could devote time every day to taking better care of myself--eating better, exercising more--that would have a profound effect on my quality of life.
• On a professional level, if I could make one follow-up phone call or contact per day with family businesses that visited our Center programs in the past but haven't yet become members, that would have a profound impact on our bottom line.

Just to drill down on the professional goal a bit--nobody wants to be solicited for membership by someone in a hurry. I know from experience that if you merely stick with a business who has expressed an interest, when the time comes that they realize they need you, because of your past efforts to stay in communication with them, it's likely they won't forget about you.

It's hard to express how profoundly eye-opening First Things First was for me, personally and professionally.  Yes, you may arrive at the same precepts and conclusions Covey has drawn through ten or twenty years of contemplation.

But who has that much time on the planet to tread water that long before discerning the secrets of the universe. It's easier just to buy the audio book.

How about you? What one change could you make in the personal and professional realms, what important but non-urgent matter could you take up right away that would make a profound difference in your life?