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FranklinCovey Blog
Guest Post: Putting First Things First – Distinguishing Between Importance and Urgency
FranklinCovey has recently partnered with OpenSesame to offer some of our online learning courses to their catalog. In addition, the company is reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Below is a post from Chase Wanamaker, an intern at OpenSesame about his experience reading the book.
To be completely honest, I have always been a bit of a skeptic about the actual results of the millions of self-help books that exist. For years I always shrugged them off, not realizing the real potential they could have in my specific circumstances. However, as I continue to read Dr. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I’m shocked by its universal relevance. I am starting to understand why so many millions of people have applied these habits to their lives.
As I look forward to starting my senior year at Gonzaga University this fall, I can’t help but reflect on my organizational habits over the past 3 years. As far back as high school, I can distinctly remember certain times when I felt completely overwhelmed with work and extracurricular activities. I felt as if I was drowning in tasks that needed to get done and could barely get a second to collect my thoughts. As a result, my performance in school and other activities were not as good as they could have been. I was unable to prioritize my schedule and manage my time properly. I was inefficient, and had trouble getting things done.
The 3rd habit of highly effective people stresses the importance of putting first things first. Dr. Covey begins the chapter by distinguishing between two very important terms: urgency and importance. Covey explains how many people (including myself) often mistake these two words when they prioritize their schedules. To fully comprehend these concepts, you need to first understand Covey’s 2nd habit. More specifically, you must define what is important to you in order to determine which tasks are worthwhile and which are not when choosing how to spend your time.
Dr. Covey provides an important four quadrant matrix which compares the ideas of urgency and importance, and how the two should impact the way you choose to spend your time. We learn that important tasks are things that must be done to complete your mission, to achieve your life goals. On the contrary, urgent tasks are those which are not necessarily important, but must be attended to because of a deadline. Covey explains that, unfortunately, many people get caught up with urgent tasks and are unable to focus on the important tasks that bring us closer to our goals.
In my own life, I often find myself caught up doing things that seem to need immediate attention but are ultimately keeping me from getting to important tasks. After reading this chapter, I now know that I need to change this. Prioritizing your schedule according to important tasks not only helps you get closer to achieving your goals but also makes you a more efficient person.
As I continue to read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I look forward to seeing how this book alone will continue to disprove my original hypothesis on self-help books. The universal applicability of these habits have already proven to be immensely useful in my own personal life. I have already noticed improvements in efficiency in many aspects of my life varying from my internship, school, and even coordinating things with my friends and family. As I continue to read through this book, I look forward to more of the immediate results the application of these helpful habits have already brought to my life.
FranklinCovey recently added their courses to OpenSesame, global elearning marketplace, where Chase Wanamaker is a business development intern. He is going to be a senior or Gonzaga University where he studies Business and is double-concentrating in Finance and Marketing.
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