Habit #3 - Put First Things First
This is the third of the three habits (Be Proactive, Put the end in mind and Put first things first) that makeup our personal effectiveness. This is where it all starts. Who are we? Once we develop our character habits, our credibility and authenticity, it is at this point that we will be able start moving from dependence to independence. I see it as the foundation of who we are and with a solid foundation, one can begin to build towards independence. Without a strong foundation and sound character habits, the building process will encounter many challenges. This third habit, put first things first, will come easily, only if we are in charge of our actions, know where we want to go and what the most important steps are, then we put first things first.
My Habit
This is definitely one of my areas of growth and I am a self proclaimed procrastinator. I can easily get distracted and lose track of my priorities. Closely analyzing the four quadrants, I realize that at times, when I’m working on detailed projects with multiple parts, my stress levels rise, and sometimes I deviate from the important parts, and I begin working “below the line” on tasks that are not important or as urgent as others.
With my reassignment to Instructional Coach last year, I do feel that I have begun to develop this habit, put first things first. I was forced to quickly refine my skills organizing, prioritizing and focusing on the important tasks. I am now faithfully using tools such as: google calendar, task lists, sketchnotes that serve as a visual representation of a project to keep me focused on the final product and working on the important tasks.
My Commitment
I’ve made the decision that my daughter will be my student for each of the 7 habits. I am seeing how they build on each other, so every week, I feel the need to share my knowledge with her. So I’m committing to teaching them to her during our usual weekend lunch or dinner out. For the past two weeks, this platform has worked out well. Since she continues to threaten to leave next year to continue her education away from home, I plan to have her map out all the steps she needs to take to get her where she wants to be next year, then prioritize the steps.
This is the third of the three habits (Be Proactive, Put the end in mind and Put first things first) that makeup our personal effectiveness. This is where it all starts. Who are we? Once we develop our character habits, our credibility and authenticity, it is at this point that we will be able start moving from dependence to independence. I see it as the foundation of who we are and with a solid foundation, one can begin to build towards independence. Without a strong foundation and sound character habits, the building process will encounter many challenges. This third habit, put first things first, will come easily, only if we are in charge of our actions, know where we want to go and what the most important steps are, then we put first things first.
My Habit
This is definitely one of my areas of growth and I am a self proclaimed procrastinator. I can easily get distracted and lose track of my priorities. Closely analyzing the four quadrants, I realize that at times, when I’m working on detailed projects with multiple parts, my stress levels rise, and sometimes I deviate from the important parts, and I begin working “below the line” on tasks that are not important or as urgent as others.
With my reassignment to Instructional Coach last year, I do feel that I have begun to develop this habit, put first things first. I was forced to quickly refine my skills organizing, prioritizing and focusing on the important tasks. I am now faithfully using tools such as: google calendar, task lists, sketchnotes that serve as a visual representation of a project to keep me focused on the final product and working on the important tasks.
My Commitment
I’ve made the decision that my daughter will be my student for each of the 7 habits. I am seeing how they build on each other, so every week, I feel the need to share my knowledge with her. So I’m committing to teaching them to her during our usual weekend lunch or dinner out. For the past two weeks, this platform has worked out well. Since she continues to threaten to leave next year to continue her education away from home, I plan to have her map out all the steps she needs to take to get her where she wants to be next year, then prioritize the steps.