Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

First Things First

Rate this book
From the author that brought you the New York Times bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People comes a guide to prioritizing your personal and professional goals.

I'm getting more done in less time, but where are the rich relationships, the inner peace, the balance, the confidence that I'm doing what matters most and doing it well?

Does this nagging question haunt you, even when you feel you are being your most efficient? If so, First Things First can help you understand why we so often prioritize things that are unimportant to both our larger goals and our inner happiness. From the author that brought you the New York Times bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People comes a guide to building your work on the principles of effectiveness so that your life can spent cultivating genuine relationships, investing in pursuits you enjoy, and achieving balance in both your personal and professional lives.

In First Things First, Stephen M. R. Covey advocates categorizing tasks by urgency and importance so that you can focus on what actually needs to be done in the limited amount of time that you have. Using personal examples and insight from years of business experience, he argues for a new way of looking at your “to-do” list. Rather than offering you another clock, First Things First provides you with a compass, because where you're headed is more important than how fast you're going.

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1993

Loading interface...
Loading interface...

About the author

Stephen R. Covey

721 books5,861 followers
Stephen Richards Covey was the author of the best-selling book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". Other books he wrote include "First Things First", "Principle-Centered Leadership", and "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families". In 2004, Covey released "The 8th Habit". In 2008, Covey released "The Leader In Me—How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time". He was also a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. You can purchase Stephen R. Covey's books and audios at http://www.7habitsstore.com

Covey died at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on July 16, 2012, due to complications from a bicycle accident he suffered the previous April.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
17,887 (42%)
4 stars
14,172 (33%)
3 stars
7,426 (17%)
2 stars
1,657 (3%)
1 star
813 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 620 reviews
Profile Image for Greg.
1,586 reviews88 followers
December 2, 2008
Another terrifically helpful book from the pen of Stephen Covey. I personally found especially useful the two-by-two matrix he discusses as a way to organize yourself. The four resulting quadrants include:

1. Important and Urgent
2. Important, Not Urgent
3. Urgent, Not Important
4. Not Urgent, Not Important

Simply put, most people spend far too much time in quadrants 3 & 4. We also spend too much time in quadrant 1, not that those issues are unimportant, but because we don't manage our priorities well. The goal is to gradually focus more and more of our time and energy in quadrant 2, thus reducing the amount of energy necessarily directed to quadrant 1.

Having been disappointed by too many time-management books in the past, which primarily purport to show one how to cram more into the limited amount of time we have, another epiphany for me from Covey's book was that the issue isn't time management, but rather priority management. That hit home, and caused me to make some changes that have led to a more satisfying life for me. I suspect this would be worthwhile reading for most people, but probably most especially, young adults.
Profile Image for Hind.
4 reviews26 followers
November 13, 2010
"إدارة الأولويات .. الأهم أولاً" .. تجوب خلال صفحاته الخمسمائة .. يشحذ أفكارك ويملأ رأسك بإلهام طاغ .. يجعلك تؤمن بأنك قادر على بذل المزيد .. ليس في عملك الذي لا بد أنك تبذل فيه الكثير .. ولكن في بيتك .. .. كتاب يبحث عن السلام الداخلي والتوازن النفسي والعاطفي .. يساعدك على إيجاد البوصلة داخلك مهما كانت وجهتك. هذا الكتاب يدعو إلى الجيل الرابع من إدارة الوقت .. بعد أن أثبتت الأجيال السابقة قدرتها ضمن الأطر الزمنية المختلفة .. وفشلها في التكيف مع المتطلبات العصرية المرتبطة بتسارع الحركة على حساب العلاقات الحميمية .. كتاب لا تملك إلا أن تقرأه .. خاصة إذا كنت ممن يهتمون بإدارة وقتهم .. وإن لم تكن منهم .. فلعلك ممن يطمحون لذلك .. وفي كلتا الحالتين .. أنت الرابح ...
Profile Image for C.
1,133 reviews1,034 followers
September 10, 2021
A thought-provoking model for living by principles rather than your to-do list. It challenges the way most Westerners structure their days and weeks, and shows how to replace your hectic, stressful schedule with a peaceful, fulfilling one. Unfortunately, it's much more verbose than necessary; it's repetitive, with lengthy examples.

Summary: Live a principle-centered life. Listen to your conscience (which acts as a compass to "true north" principles ultimately from God) and put first things first (prioritize according to principles, and focus your efforts on the greatest long-term results).

I read this because I liked The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The Clock and the Compass
"Put people ahead of schedules, compasses [vision, values] ahead of clocks … traditional time management gets in the way. Calendars and schedules … keep us focused on the urgent instead of the important. … They often create misalignment between what really matters most and the way we live our daily lives."

The Main Thing it to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
Personal mission statement
To create a personal mission statement, get a feeling for what's most important to you by doing the following:
• List 3-4 things you consider "first things."
• Consider your long-range goals.
• Think about most your important relationships.
• Think about contributions you'd like to make.
• Reaffirm the feelings you want (peace, confidence, happiness, contribution, meaning, etc.).
• Think about how you'd spend this week if you had only 6 months to live.

An empowering personal mission statement:
• Is based on purpose higher than self.
• Includes fulfillment in physical, social, mental, spiritual dimensions.
• Deals with all the significant roles in your life (personal, family, work, community).

"We're always trying to fit more activities into the time we have. But what does it matter how much we do if what we're doing isn't what matters most?"

"It's easy to say 'no' when there's a deeper 'yes!' burning inside."

Each day, visualize yourself living your personal mission statement. Each week, before you plan your week, review your statement.

There are times when short-term imbalance creates long-term balance (living, loving, learning, and living a legacy, over a lifetime). Examples: parenting young children, a meaningful project, caring for an elderly parent, starting a business.

If you view your role in terms of tasks, you'll be frustrated by "interruptions" from people. If you view your role in terms of people, you'll find interactions with people fulfilling.

Balancing roles isn't "either/or," it's "and." Find ways to achieve goals for multiple roles at once. Examples: exercising and parenting by playing sports with your kid, or working on a work project and training an assistance while working on the project together.

Set goals in terms of what (goal), why (motivation), and how (actions).

Genuine guilt, not social, scripted guilt, can reveal when your actions aren't aligned with your principles.

The Synergy of Interdependence
The "People" Paradigm puts people 1st and things 2nd, leadership 1st and management 2nd, effectiveness 1st and efficiency 2nd, vision 1st and method 2nd.

Stephen Covey's family mission statement
"The mission of our family is to create a nurturing place of faith, order, truth, love, happiness, and relaxation, and to provide opportunity for each person to become responsibly independent, and effectively interdependent in order to serve worthy purposes in society."

Make your organizational culture an empowered, high-trust one that lives by "first things first together": shared vision, stewardship agreements, win-win.

The Power and Peace of Principle-Centered LIving
In evaluating tasks on your list, view them not as things to do, but as indicators of a larger process to improve. Look for opportunities to delay, collaborate with others, delegate, prevent unnecessary tasks from arising, and improving efficiency.

By default, our happiness in a day depends on whether we can complete everything from the list we started the day with. Unexpected challenges frustrate us. Instead, our happiness should come from knowing we put 1st things 1st, regardless of our list. If we expect challenges, their arising shouldn't frustrate us.

Maximize time and effort by staying in your Center of Focus (things you can influence, are aligned with your mission, and are timely). Operating in your Circle of Influence (area of concern where you can make a difference) can do some good, but at the expense of something better. It's a waste to put effort into your Circle of Concern (everything you're concerned about) because you can't control or affect those things.
Profile Image for Iman Fuad.
183 reviews27 followers
July 8, 2012
كم من الناس وصلوا إلى ماكانوا يصبوا إلية ؟! وهل بعد الوصول راحة وسعادة ؟! كيف نستطيع أن نجد أنفسنا كما نود في كــل أدوار الحياة من دون أن نـخل بأحدهـا؟
بعد أن قرأت هذا الكتاب الرائع الذي لم يحوي فقط على معلومات ونظريات وإنما على حلول يمكن تطبيقها على أرض الواقع أجبت على أسئلة كانت تدور بخلدي و أدركت أن أولى أولويات أي شخص أراد تحسين أدواره بالحياة أن يقرأ هذا الكتاب أولاً ...
Profile Image for Hatem Shawkat.
20 reviews11 followers
April 2, 2018
Time...Time...Time...my whole time Issue :((((.... in this book Stephen teaching us the 4th generation in time management

#1st...Is To do List but it was hard to keep it in your eyes so it's not so helpful.

#2nd...Is Calendar like to say 13:15 I am going to club than another hobbit but when you miss something the whole day would go wrong.

#3rd...To write your goals and then try to work on it and I don`t know where`s the time management in this case !

#4th...To Classify your Tasks in a table and then began to do them according to it`s Importance and Emergency.

I hope this strategy push me forward in time management.

https://www.google.com.eg/url?sa=i&am...
Profile Image for Cam.
285 reviews
April 17, 2008
This book was a slow read for me, it was really hard for me to get into it, I especially had a hard time with all of the different "quadrants" of organization and such, I'm just not into that. Although, there were a lot of things that I did like about the book. One point brought up is that we use busy-ness as a way to validate ourselves and to feel important, and I think that's very true, and I am starting to realize that it really doesn't matter. I don't have to be involved in a million different things to be happy and feel validated. It's okay to tell people, "NO". I'm trying to improve, and I'm trying to put more of my focus on what's really important to me- and give my best self to my family.
July 1, 2016
بأختصار بسيط، هذا الكتاب أحد أفضل الكتب التي قرأتها في حياتي بدون شك. إذا كان هناك بعض الكتب القادرة على تغيير حياة الإنسان، فلا يوجد شك أن هذا الكتاب أحد الكتب. قرأت الكتاب باللغة العربية عن طريق ترجمة د. السيد المتولي. الكتاب يقدم عرض مفصل في ما يخص إدارة الوقت، وينظر إلي الماضي ويشرح الأساليب القديمة المستخدمة في الإدارة.

أنصح بقراءة الكتاب لكل من يرغب في ضبط وإدارة الوقت في حياته.

تعلمت من الكتاب أن عملية السيطرة على الحياة مستحيلة، ولا يمكن لأي شخص أن يسيطر على كافة الأمور في حياته، وإنما عليه أن يتعلم كيف يوازن بين جوانب حياته ويقدم دائماً الأكثر أهمية. بأختصار، الكتاب سيعمل على تطوير مهارة العمل أولاً على ما هو مهم في حياتك، ومن ثم الأعمال الأقل أهمية... وهكذا.

ملاحظة: هذا النوع من الكتب يتطلب من القارىء أن يكتب ملاحظات يلخص من خلالها المعلومات والأساليب، شخصياً لخصت الكتاب في ٢٠ صفحة.
Profile Image for Kelly  Schuknecht.
290 reviews26 followers
March 18, 2015
I couldn't help thinking most of the time while I was reading this book that it's kind of like a diet book: "All other diets are useless...This isn't a diet, it's a revolutionary new way to approach eating...Do what we say in this book and your life will be transformed forever...blah, blah." When the bottom line is really: Think about what you're eating and make smarter choices. Most time management books are probably similar: "Follow these guidelines, rather than every other time management gimmick you've read about, because this is not a gimmick. This is the right way to approach time management."

Needless to say, I was not a huge fan of this book. It took a long time to get to the point and then there were some great take-aways (about chapters 2-5) and then the rest was just painfully boring. If you're hungry for some time management advice, just read chapters 2-5 and that's really all you need to know. The bottom line is: Don't get caught up in urgency addiction, plan your days according to what you really need to get done and don't get caught up in things that are unimportant.
Profile Image for Heba.
82 reviews
Read
November 4, 2012
على الإطلاق أفضل ما كتب في إدارة الوقت !

أحب أولئك الذين يكتبون بتفاني ، بثقة ، وبتواضع
ستيفن كوفي أحدهم

قبل أن يحدثك عن فلسفته الخاصة في وضع البوصلة أمام الساعة
ي��كلم عن أربع أجيال لإدارة الوقت ، إيجابياتهم ، أخطائهم ، وسلبياتهم
وتأثير هذه الطرق

ففي المناهج التقليدية لإدارة الوقت تتحول الجودة الشاملة إلى مجرد " إنجاز الشهر!" بدلاً من تفجير الإبداع الحقيقي والتحول المستمر في الجودة !

ستيفن يعلمك كيف تجد الشمال الحقيقي وتتجه نحوه
يخبرك أن تتأكد قبل أن تصعد بسرعة أن السلم مسنود على الحائط الصحيح
يعلمك أن تضع الناس قبل الأشياء .. القيادة قبل الإدارة .. الفاعلية قبل الكفاءة .. الرؤية قبل الطريقة


يقول ستيفن :
الأهم من سرعة إنطلاقتك .. هو معرفتك إلى أين تنطلق


===
تجاوزت بعض الفصول التي لا تهمني كثيراً تتعلق بالإعتماد المتبادل
خرجت من الكتاب بتصور متكامل ومنهج جميل عن إدارة الوقت
إدارة الوقت دون أن تلزم نفسك بضوابط وقيود صارمة ومحبطة .. كيف تكون إنسيابياً كالماء ، تمشي بروية وسكينة نحو الشمال الحقيقي دون أن تكون مثقلاً ومقيداً

===
سأكتب بعض العبارات اتي سجلتها من الكتاب ، أتمنى أن تجدوا فيها ما يفيدكم :)

- من غير المجدي أن نبني شعادتنا على قدرتنا على التحكم في كل شيء حولنا ، فبينما يمكننا التحكم في اختياراتنا إلا أنه لا يمكننا أن نتحكم في نتائج تلك الإختيارات ، لأن الذي يحكم تلك النتائج مجموعة مبادئ وقوانين كونية لا نلك السيطرة عليها
هذه الحقيقة تقدم لنا التفسير لحالة الإحباط التي تصيب الناس عند إستخدامهم "المنهج التقليدي" لإدارةالوقت !

- جودة الحياة لاتتحق من خلال إستخدام الأساليب المختصرة !
- إن هناك موسما لكل شيء في هذه الحياة !
وهاك مواسم تعلمنا أن عدم التوازن هو التوازن بعينه، فقط عندما نبقي الإتصال مفتوحاً مع ذواتنا من الداخل ، سيكون لدينا الحكمة لعمل الإختيار المناسب
عندما يساهم "عدم التوازن المؤقت" في تحقيق التوازن على المدى البعيد ، فهو الخيار الصحيح ، والعامل المتحكمفي عملية التوازن في حياتنا هو ذلك الإتصال العميق بالذات والوعي من الداخل !

- قيمة أي أسبوع ليست في أنجزناه خلاله من أعمال ، إنها أيضاً فيما نتعلمه منه ومت نكتسبه من خبرة نتيجة المعايشة لذلك لا تعد خبرة أي أسبوع كاملة دون شيء من التقويم الذي يجعلنا نهضم ما حدث
إن تكرار عملية التنظيم والفعل التقويم تساعد على رؤية نتائج قراراتنا واختيارتنا بوضوح أكثر

يجب أن نتوقف لنسأل أنفسنا مايمكن تعلمه هذا الأسبوع لكي لا يكون الأسبوع القادم مجرد تكرار له !


- هل الهم أن تقضي الوقت في حل المشكلات الناجمة عن سوء الإتصال ، أم أن تقضيه في بناء العلاقات القادرة على إيجاد الإتصال الفعال؟

- في المنهج التقليدي لإدارة الوقت نتوقع أن ننهي المطلوب منا كما هو مخطط له وإن لم يحدث ، بنتابنا الإحباط ! عندما تتغير التوقعات .. أي عندما نرى اليوم الجديد على أنه مغامرة مثيرة نخوضها بخريطة وبوصلة على أرض جديدة ..كم هو مقدار السلام والسعادة التي نحملها معنا لحظة الذهاب إلى الفراش في نهاية اليوم :)!

- إذا كانت فكرتنا عن إدارة الوقت أنها مجرد أن نشق طريقنا خلال قائمة المواعيد والأعمال أياً كانت ، فنحن نقود أنفسنا إلى إحباط مؤكد ! وسنفقد أعمق وأغنى أبعاد حياتنا ..

===
العمل بانسجام ، وفق مبادئ صحيحة ، وبصبر، وإصرار ،وشجاعة ، والتصرف خلا دائرة التأثير
هو ما ينادي به ستيفن
لا تعش بلا هدف ورؤية ، كذلك لا تكبل نفسك بقيود وضوابط محبطة
عندما تركز على أهدافك سوف ترى الفرص. الفرص موجودة، لكنك لن تراها ما لم تحدد وجهتك

****************
يقول الأستاذ محمد الدحيم :

العيش بلا وجهة مضيعة للوقت ، كذلك الصرامة المنهجية لا تعطي الذات فرصة لاكتشاف الأشياء !!
لا تُخضع كل شيء في حياتك للتخطيط فالله (يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ) (وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ)

Profile Image for Loy Machedo.
233 reviews207 followers
April 24, 2013
Stephen Covey’s book First Things First is an elaborated section of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. The book tends to focus on Human Habits through the guidance of a Compass rather than a Clock with its core principle of Quality versus Quantity.

The author helps people achieve habit by presenting the Four Quadrants:
Quadrant I – Urgent + Important
Quadrant II - Not Urgent But Important
Quadrant III – Urgent But Not Important
Quadrant IV - Not Urgent, Not Important

Covey recommends gradually shifting our daily activities toward Quadrant II, important activities that are not urgent and there by reducing the sense of ‘last-minute’ hiccups. Another difference is the weekly planning. Covey really emphasizes the importance of calendaring activities for the week - starting with the "big rock," followed by pebbles, then filling the rest with the sand. If you first put in the sand, "the thick of thin things," there's no room for the big rocks, the most important activities.

Criticisms for the Book
The author devotes a significant amount of space to explaining the importance of leaving a legacy, but fails to recognize that this matters the least in terms of the largest group of people who bought this book and where they are right now in their lives. The quest for leaving a legacy is really irrelevant to someone is struggling to make ends meet or to pay his bills. What good would squabbling about some abstract principle do for someone who instead needs to advance his career and manage his time more effectively?

The book is also full of fluff and could have been reduced to 25% and still say the same things. And the book does nothing to tell you how to do what is being stated.

Another bone of contention I have is the fluffy terminologies - Mission Statement, Personal Statement, Leaving a Legacy – They all sound really nice. But the question is practicality of such terms. How many people do you know who maintain such a concept or practice? And yeah, if you are a CEO or President of a company, it would be great to have such systems in place. However, if you are a Middle Class Worker and you are asked to complete a task asap (which is always the case), presenting such a value based proposition may end up you getting back on the unemployment list.

Moment of Truth
A book which has good intentions but with too many great sounding words and concepts that give us too much of positivity and hope and whose practical application is very questionable indeed. Added to this, the book by itself could have easily been reduced to 1/3rd its size but which has been inflamed with a lot of repetition and fluff to become a sellable product.

Overall Ratings
6 out of 10

Loy Machedo
loymachedo.com | loymachedo.tv
Profile Image for Zineb | زينب .
41 reviews17 followers
March 16, 2018

"أن تحيا وتحب وتتعلم وتترك أثراً"

الأهم أولا! يدور الكتاب حول جعل أعمال المربع الثاني" مهم غير عاجل" أولوية و كيفية ذلك بالتفصيل الممل وهذا يجنبنا الوقوع في الطوارئ لاحقا باعتبار عمل الطوارئ "مهم عاجل" هو ما يسبب القلق و الضغط،، اما المربع الرابع "غير مهم غير عاجل" فتجنبه واجب في حق الضمير الذاتي ههه...

يسمح الأهم اولا حسب الكاتب أو كما سماه الجيل الرابع بتنظيم أكبر للوقت و يتيح بذلك القيام بأدوار الانسان الأربع "أن تحيا وتحب وتتعلم وتترك أثراً"


القيام بالأهم أولا و ادارة الأولويات،، كل ما نحتاجه حتما ولكن ككل كتب التنمية نحتاج لأكثر من مجرد "تصفح كتاب"


Screenshot_2018_01_26_15_04_53

2.5*
طويل جدا كما ان تصفحه فقط يفي بالغرض 😁
Profile Image for Sandra.
10 reviews
July 21, 2013
I have this book so marked that I stopped marking it. I have the audio and the paper back. It's a book I reference to and read multiple times.

If you're looking for guidance on your day to day activities, if you're struggling with your priorities, Stephen Covey's philosophy on the compass vs the clock will sure help you.
Profile Image for Omnia Alsayed.
148 reviews52 followers
October 26, 2013
ستيفن كوفي .. هذا الرائع كعادته يعالج المشكلة من جذور الجذور .. أخذ هذا الكتاب وقتا طويلا مني على غير العادة لأنتهي من قراءته .. رغم أني قرأته قبلا .. لكن أكتشفت أني لم أفهم المنظومة كاملة وقتها .. أفضل خاتمة على الاطلاق .. وأفضل أتصال مع الروح .. ونهاية لا أظن أنك تحتاج بعدها أن تقرأ في أدبيات أدارة الوقت .. أن منهج ستيفن كوفي في كل كتبه .. الحديثة منها والمكتوبة قبل عشرين عام .. هو أفضل منهج معروف حتى الان .. الحياة وفقا للمباديء والعيش بالاتجاه نحو الشمال الحقيقي .. الربط بين قوة الضمير وجودة الحياة .. والانصات الى صوت الضمير .. المسافة الحرة بين المثير والاستجابة .. التفاعل بالاعتماد المتبادل واتفاقيات المكسب المشترك .. الرسالة الشخصية والعمق الذاتي والقيادة الذاتية .. أن تكون أنت مشروعا .. انها رسالة النهضة بأن تُكون مشروعا .. أو تدعم مشروعا .. أو تكون أنت في ذاتك مشروعا .. أنها حياة شحذ المنشار .. أن تحب وتتعلم وتترك الذكرى الطيبة .. شكرا ستيفن كوفي .. ولترقد في سلام .. بقدر السلام والمحبة والروحانية التي تنبض بها حروفك .. ♥♥
Profile Image for عبدالمنعم الهوسه.
295 reviews282 followers
January 15, 2016
عن كتاب الأشياء الأولى أولاً

هذا الكتاب يقدم منظور جديد وفكرة تستحق التطبيق في عالم الأهداف و تنظيم الوقت وجدولة المهام
"أن تحيا وتحب وتتعلم وتترك أثراً"

الكتاب يتكون من خمسة عشر فصلاً مقسمة على أربعة أقسام
يتحدث أن جعل ما يهمنا ونهتم به -من داخلنا وعميق قلوبنا - أن نجعله أولاً ..
أن تكون حياتنا منسجمة مع مانريده حقاً ..
أن نعتبر الحياة مغامرة جديدة لا مهام تنجز فقط ..

هذا الكتاب يريدنا أن نعيش في المربع الثاني ..
مربع (مهم وغير عاجل) التابع لمربع إدارة الاولويات

من أفكار الكتاب :
يقارن الكتاب بين أجيال تنظيم الوقت الثلاثة التي تعتمد على المهمة وتتجاهل الاشخاص
وبين الجيل الجديد - الرابع- الذي ينادي به الكتاب
متى أقول كلمة نعم لما يحفز طاقتي وأقول لا لما يعتر أقل أهمية لدي.
تحديد أدوارك ووضع أهدافك الأسبوعية وفقاً لأدوارك.
تنظيم الاسبوع بداء بالشيء الاولى في الحياة .


كتاب جميل وغير نظرتي تجاه بعض ��لأمور .. فيه قيمة كبيرة .. عيبه الاطالة أحيانا التي لا داعي لها - الحشو -
Profile Image for imane.
464 reviews397 followers
April 10, 2020

تنظيم الوقت الاهم فالاهم اولا. الخانة الاولى مهم عاجل العمل والدراسة الخانة الثانية مهم غير عاجل التغذية الرياضة الحفاظ على الصحة قراءة الكتب الثقافة العلاقات الاجتماعية الجيدة الاسرة تربية الابناء التقرب من الابناء اصلاح العلاقة بين الازواج تمضية الوق�� مع العائلة الجانب الديني الجانب الروحي الخانة الثالثة غير مهم عاجل كاؤلئك المزعجين الاستغلاليين الانانيين الذي ياتون عندك لكي تخدم لهم مصالحهم تعلم ان تقول لا غير مهم غير عاجل كمشاهدة المسلسلات قراءة الروايات مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي. يجب تقسيم الوقت وتحديد ساعات محددة لكي شيء وفي بداية اليوم يتم البدا بالاهم ثم تاجيل الامور الاقل الاهمية الى المساء
264 reviews7 followers
February 7, 2008
For me, this was a new way of looking at "a balanced life." Sometimes we focus so much on the urgent things, that we forget about the important things that aren't necessarily so urgent. Very insightful. It made me think that I need to focus left on getting things done, and more on getting the important things done!
Profile Image for Osama Elbosili.
259 reviews31 followers
July 13, 2017
مش عارف ليه بحس أن ستيفن بيعقد الأمور فى كتبه
هل دا مثلاً ممكن يكون خطأ منى نتيجة قراءة الكتب المترجمة لكنى حاسس أن فى أخطاء فى الترجمة تحول دون فهم المعنى
المهم الكتاب بكل بساطة بيقولك ركز على الكفاءة وليس الحجم
ركز على الأولويات والمهم وليس المستعجل
اجعل لحياتك هدف روحى مش مادى
أحرص على التعاون وتبادل المنافع مع الآخرين
Profile Image for طارق رشدى.
48 reviews21 followers
May 26, 2014
كتاب أقل ما يقال عنه أنه رائع
يوفر عليك قراءة الكثير من الكتب فى تنظيم الوقت
و ما يميز الكتاب أنه يتوجه بالكلام للأشخاص الذين لديهم نظام فى حياتهم بالفعل و لكن يخبرهم كيف يديروا حياتهم بأسلوب أفضل و يستغلوا أوقاتهم بصورة أكثر فعالية

Profile Image for Shawndra.
Author 13 books44 followers
May 14, 2015
Don’t buy the Kindle version but DO READ the book.

This Kindle version is frustrating, disappointing and missing important content. It may say it has new technology and audio/visual but I found no links or content to it. They had some colored infographs but all the diagrams, worksheets and charts they mention are not available anywhere in this version. The format they used for the Kindle must have been previously used for a print book as numerous word breaks are found throughout the Kindle version. Obviously no one took the time to actually edit this version. Very distracting and irritating!

The content was great. The book has been around for a while but the message is still important and valuable. I read it as part of our National Association of Professional Organizer – Virtual Chapter book club and I thought I knew what it was about – Time Management. It’s not, or at least not just about improving your time management abilities. It’s about building your leadership skills – whether you’re a leader of one (yourself), a part of a team or family, or managing many. It’s about investing – investing your time in yourself and others. It’s about becoming more skilled at choosing what to focus your time and effort on.
I would recommend it to my clients. For those who are feeling overwhelmed with too many things to do and too little time – this will help you stand back and assess whether this or that is important to your journey. For those who are in a supervisory or leadership position – this will help you develop stronger team members.

As for me, I’m focusing on pausing in the “space between stimulus and response”.
I would recommend reading this book, in print not Kindle.
Profile Image for Alex.
30 reviews17 followers
May 27, 2007
Teaches you the art and craft of time management. Move away from reactive day to day to do list planning and gets you to view your time as the week proactively scheduling in your priorities with the compass card. The principle of the clock and the compass is right on.
Profile Image for Samy.
117 reviews14 followers
April 4, 2017
First things First is one of those books that was on my mind for a long time, and I’m so glad I finally read it. For someone who’s fascinated by productivity and maximising it through the choices i make on a daily basis, this has been the most impactful book I’ve read in my life.

I couldn’t help but regularly highlight passages. There were so many gems in this book, and perhaps the most important quote I highlighted, that has relevance to everyday life is:
“The key to quality of life is in the compass—it’s in the choices we make every day. As we learn to pause in the space between stimulus and response and consult our internal compass, we can face change squarely, confident that we’re being true to principle and purpose.”

This book was also surprisingly deeply spiritual and had relevance to relationships, daily fulfilment, just as much as work. For instance, the author talks about the idea that all have our own “Personal Integrity account”, which reflects the amount of trust we have in ourselves. We build a “high balance in this account, which is a great source of strength and security” by delaying gratification, avoiding temptations, and making the right choices when our honesty is on the line.

Before reading this book, I was strictly tied to a lot of the principles, systems, and rules I’d created in my life. Whether it be working in blocks of one hour, taking a walk before I start any work, and so on. But instead of approaching these parts of my life as overarching principles, I saw them as rules I needed to lead my life by.

Reading this book helped me realise that so long as my choices are made from the right compass, I can trust myself to worry a little less about the details. For instance, I used to track my daily habits every day by giving myself a checkmark on a Daily App. Now that I see my daily habits are principles to live by, rather than extraneous gridlocks. Now I only tick/cross something on a sheet when I don’t do a habit, freeing myself from having to ‘tick’ everything on a daily basis.

“In a sense, knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows: for details are swallowed up in principles. “
Another one of the highlights of this book was the idea that we live under different roles i.e. friend, creator, husband… etc. I was somewhat familiar with this before, but I appreciated the level of detail that the author went into here. He mentioned that everyone should have a “foundational role called “sharpen the saw.” “We treat this as a separate role for two reasons: 1) it’s a role that everyone has, and 2) it’s foundational for success in every other role.”

He also explored the idea that one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves at the end of e each week is: “what is the most important thing I could do in each role this coming week to have the greatest positive impact?”

The author also explored the idea that our life vision needs to be genuine. “If our self-vision is no more than a reflection of the social mirror, we have no connection with our inner selves, with our own uniqueness and capacity to contribute. We’re living out of scripts handed to us by others—family, associates, friends, enemies, the media.”

The author also shared the idea how we perform in each role of our lives, affects the whole. “Whatever we are we bring to every role in our life.” So if we change who we are on some small level in one role, we also change how we show up in all the other areas of our lives.

For example, I’ve witnessed the powerful effect of the amazing difference doing fulfilling work each day has to my overall level of happiness. Mastering this one part of my life makes me perform better in all the other areas of my life. I end up smiling more, contributing more, and being a better person for my family.

“When we see our roles as segmented parts of life, we develop a scarcity chronos mentality. There’s only so much time. Spending it in one role means we can’t spend it in another. It’s win-lose—one role wins, the other roles lose.”I can see now, that this certainly isn’t the case.

Below you’ll find some of my other favourite passages from this book.
==========
Have less money or prestige than somebody else? It’s irrelevant. Our security comes from our own integrity to true north.
==========
With the humility that comes from being principle-centered, we’re empowered to learn from the past, have hope for the future, and act with confidence in the present.
==========
We can’t just toss out a few seeds, go ahead and do whatever we want to do and then expect to come back to find a beautiful, well-groomed garden ready to drop a bountiful harvest of beans, corn, potatoes, carrots, and peas in our basket. We have to water, cultivate, and weed on a regular basis if we’re going to enjoy the harvest.
==========
the difference between our own active involvement as gardeners and neglect is the difference between a beautiful garden and a weed patch.
==========
Since studies show that it’s less effective to attempt to mentally manage more than seven categories, we recommend that you try to combine functions, such as administration/finance or personnel/team building to keep your total number of roles to seven.
==========
If our vision is based on illusion, we make choices that aren’t based on “true north” principles. In time, these choices fail to create the quality-of-life results we expect. Our vision becomes no more than platitudes. We become disillusioned, perhaps cynical. Our creative imagination withers, and we don’t trust our dreams anymore.
==========
“when man discovered the mirror, he began to lose his soul.”
==========
The power of transcendent vision is greater than the power of the scripting deep inside the human personality and it subordinates it, submerges it, until the whole personality is reorganized in the accomplishment of that vision.
==========
No one else can be the husband or wife you can be to your spouse. No one else can be the doctor you can be to your patients, the teacher you can be to your students, the sister, the friend, the community volunteer you can be to the people whose lives you can touch. What you alone can contribute, no one else can contribute. Viktor Frankl said we don’t invent our mission; we detect it.
==========
Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfilment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated.
==========
look into this container which is our soul; look and listen to it. Until you have listened in to that thing which is dreaming through you, in other words—answered the knock on the door in the dark, you will not be able to lift this moment in time in which we are imprisoned,
==========
• Commit your mission statement to memory.
==========
Set a daily “sharpen the saw” goal to visualize yourself living your mission statement.
==========
Read mission statements written by other people throughout history. Consider the impact of these statements on their lives and on society.
=========
What is quality of life if it isn’t spending time with the people you love most?
==========
Whatever we are we bring to every role in our life.
==========
Much of our pain in life comes from the sense that we’re succeeding in one role at the expense of other,
==========
a compelling, future-oriented vision is the primary force that kept many of them alive.
==========
Petty things become unimportant when people are impassioned about a purpose higher than self.
==========
In a sense, we each live three lives. We have our public life, where we interact with other people at work, in the community, at social events. We have our private life, where we’re away from the public. We may be alone or we may choose to be with friends or family. But our most significant life is our deep inner life.
==========
The basic paradigm is that without some form of tight control, we’ll mess up. We don’t have trust in ourselves that, left to our own internal motivation, we would moment by moment make effective choices. But the passion of vision releases the power that connects “discipline” with its root word, “disciple.”
==========
It includes fulfillment in physical, social, mental, and spiritual dimensions.
==========
8. is written to inspire you—not to impress anyone else. It communicates to you and inspires you on the most essential level.
==========
The way we see the problem is the problem. This compartmentalization is based on illusion, and to try to live the illusion is incredibly strenuous.
==========
Balance isn’t “either/or” it’s “and.”
==========
It is as if society somehow deems it less valuable to raise competent children than to raise the profit on a company’s product line. A woman who chooses to focus on motherhood, and does so out of a clear sense of her own personal vision, becomes truly energized in her role. She recognizes the value of her efforts in shaping the characters of future leaders in society.
==========
We can think win-win with all the roles in our lives, to see them as parts of a highly interrelated whole.
==========
Success or failure in any role contributes to the quality of every other role and life as a whole.
==========
Writing our roles each week keeps them in our awareness and helps us pay attention to all the important dimensions of our life.
==========
balance is living, loving, learning, and leaving a legacy over a lifetime—gives context and meaning to her seasonal imbalance.
==========
forgetting to shift back out of high gear after such a bout with adrenaline has served its purpose.
==========
Whatever we do with whatever we have—money, possessions, talents, even time—we leave behind us as a legacy for those who follow.
==========
A significant part of effectiveness in any role is in the balance between developing and doing, between production (P) and increasing our production capability (PC).
==========
==========
Building character strength is like building physical strength. When the test comes, if you don’t have it, no cosmetics can disguise the fact that it just isn’t there.
==========
It takes strength to set a heroic goal, to work on chronic problems instead of going for the “quick fix,”
==========
Accomplishing one goal impacts other areas of life in a negative way. When we come face-to-face with the results, we become disillusioned.
==========
We’re working against ourselves, not sure why (or even if) we want to accomplish a particular goal. The commitments we make in a moment of enthusiasm don’t have the sustaining power to carry us all the way to successful achievement of our goals.
==========
we need to push our thinking and feeling until we break through and create an open flow between the passion of vision and the goal. The stronger the connection, the stronger and more sustained the motivation.
==========

The way we see others in terms of control or release generally reflects the way we see ourselves. If we have a control perspective, we assume we have to exercise strict control over ourselves if we want to accomplish anything.
==========
There are times of short-term imbalance when wisdom suggests that we make the conscious choice not to set goals in some roles.
==========
It’s like reading a run-on sentence that goes on for pages without a comma
==========
At work, we may connect with some of the purposes of the organization, and find fulfillment by contributing to them. We may find fulfillment in the service we provide for our customers or in the growth and development of the people we train or work with. As we invest and connect in ways that bring growth and contribution, we discover that the person who comes home from work at night is stronger and better than the one who left for work in the morning.
==========
When urgency pushes us, moods pull us, or unexpected opportunities beckon, we have something solid against which we can weigh the value of change. We can put content in context and choose the “best” over the “good.”
==========
the point was not to schedule every little thing, but to work on first things first.
==========
wisdom is a marriage—a synergy—of heart and mind.
==========
• End-of-the-week evaluation helps us see time as a cycle of learning and growth rather than as linear chronos measurement.
==========
the most fundamental ingredients to success were such things as honesty, integrity, humility, fidelity, justice, patience, and courage.
==========
in his book The Pursuit of Happiness, study after study shows that those who have this bigger picture orientation in their lives are happier, more satisfied, contributing people.
==========
“People seem not to see,” said Emerson, “that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.”7
==========
our relationships with others are fundamentally a reflection of our relationship with ourselves.
==========
If we don’t have a sense of mission and principles to measure ourselves against, we benchmark against other people instead of our own potential.
==========
We’re into comparative thinking and win-lose mentality.
==========
See yourself living by the fundamental Laws of Life that are basic to all civilizations. Don’t cheat. Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Treat people with respect. ”
==========
People know it. In their deep inner lives, they know what they ought to be doing. And they know it would improve quality of life. The challenge is to develop the character and competence to listen to it and live by it—to act with integrity in the moment of choice.
==========
What can I learn from this week that will keep next week from essentially being a repeat of the same?
==========
The value of any week is not limited to what we do in it; it’s also in what we learn from it and become as a result of it.
==========
• Did my choices make deposits or withdrawals from my Personal Integrity Account?
==========
• What keeps getting in the way of accomplishing my goals?
==========
• Connect to mission empowers you to access the deep burning “yes!” created by the awareness of first things in your life, the “yes!” that generates passion and energy and makes it possible for you to say “no”—with
==========
The shift is from doing more things in less time to doing first things in an effective, balanced, and synergistic way. It’s a holistic, integrated, and aligned approach to living, loving, learning, and leaving a legacy.
==========
everything people identify as really important has to do with others.
==========
We get our paycheck because what we do in some way affects the lives of others.
==========
To love is, by definition, interdependent. “Love isn’t love till you give it away.”
==========
To leave a legacy is also, by definition, interdependent. It’s contributing to society, contributing in meaningful ways to the lives of others.
==========
We’re living with the illusion of independence, but the paradigm is not creating the quality-of-life results we desire.
==========
The problems we see in families, organizations, and societies are the result of individuals making choices in their space between stimulus and response. When those choices come out of reactivity, scripting, or urgency response, it impacts time and quality of life for families, organizations, and society as a whole.
==========
We can stop seeing people as a reflection of ourselves, looking at everything they do in terms of how it affects our time and our world.
==========
in almost all situations, cooperation is far more productive than competition.
==========
when both people understand both perspectives, instead of being on opposite sides of the table looking across at each other, we find ourselves on the same side looking at solutions together.
==========
There’s no sense of shared vision. There’s no passion, no deep burning “Yes!” in the organization.
==========
Just think of the cost in terms of time and effort wasted in organizations because people don’t have a clear sense of shared importance!
==========
The degree to which urgency drives the organization is the degree to which importance does not.
==========
The passion created by shared vision creates synergistic empowerment. It unleashes and combines the energy, talent, and capacities of all involved.
==========
A powerful shared vision has a profound effect on quality of life—in the family, in the organization, in any situation where we work with others. We become contributing parts of a greater whole. We can live, love, learn, and leave powerful legacies together.
==========
An empowering organizational mission statement: • focuses on contribution, on worthwhile purposes that create a collective deep burning “Yes!” • comes from the bowels of the organization, not from Mount Olympus • is based on timeless principles • contains both vision and principle-based values • addresses the needs of all stakeholders • addresses all four needs and capacities
==========
A manager, leader, or parent becomes a source of help—a facilitator, helper, cheerleader, advisor, counselor, and coach—someone to remove the oil spills and then get out of the way.
==========
In a high-trust culture, people are internally motivated. They’re fueled by the fire within. They’re driven by a sense of passion about fulfilling a shared vision that’s also a co-mission, a synergy between their own mission and the mission of the family or organization.
==========
The quarterly bottom line tends to drive the mentality in the culture. In a high-trust culture, structures and systems are aligned to create empowerment, to liberate people’s energy and creativity toward agreed-upon purposes within the guidelines of shared values.
==========
“What are the things I’m now doing you’d like to see me continue to do? What would you like to see me stop doing? What would you like to see me start doing that I’m not doing now?”
==========

never told me what to do. He always said, “You might consider this option” or “Had you thought about this possibility?”
==========
“Accomplishing tasks through people” is a different paradigm than “building people through the accomplishment of tasks.” With one, you get things done. With the other, you get them done with far greater creativity, synergy, and effectiveness
==========
If you find yourself afraid to act authentically, to speak courageously, to challenge the assumptions, you’re doing a disservice to yourself and your organization.
==========
Your deeply held beliefs about someone will create the tone for any interactions you have.
==========
Principle-centered living is not an end in itself. It’s the means and the end. It’s the quality of our travel along life’s road.
==========
In a principle-centered life, the journey and the destination are one.
==========
Rather than activities and appointments, you see your day in terms of people and relationships. You see processes in progress as new possibilities for contribution
==========
where you could focus your effort with the greatest positive long-term result.
==========
You would see tasks, not as things to do, but as indicators of a larger process that you want to improve.
==========
Foundational to “first things” are the four needs and capacities—to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy.
==========
We see how vital it is to pause in that space between stimulus and response so that we can listen to our conscience and exercise the attributes of the heart to make the “best” choices.
==========
Vision gives purpose and meaning. Roles become synergistic avenues of contribution. Goals become conscience-driven, purposeful, integrated accomplishment. The week bridges the mission and the moment in a cycle of growth.
==========
Profile Image for Heli Künnapas.
Author 35 books84 followers
July 30, 2021
See on raamat, millega algas mu teadlik enesearengu teekond. Paarkümmend aastat tagasi alustasin selle lugemist ning sain kohe enda jaoks mitu head mõtet, mida kõik need aastad kaasas kandsin. Tookord lõpuni ei lugenud, kuid nüüd sai see viga parandatud.

Pikemalt kirjutan blogis: https://midaheliluges.blogspot.com/20...
Profile Image for Aalaa.
134 reviews47 followers
April 13, 2018
وأثناء أكبر موجة تغيير في حياتك ترزق بكتاب كهذا..أرجو ألا أعيش هذه الحالة من الطوارئ اعتقد أنني سأكتب هذه الجملة في يومياتي كشعار لعام 2018
*انتي مش ف طوارئ متنسيش حياتك الحقيقية*
Profile Image for Uriah O'Terry.
46 reviews
July 11, 2023
I feel as though I've betrayed myself by enjoying (and heaven help us, even recommending) a self-help book.
Profile Image for Omar.
29 reviews1 follower
July 16, 2013
I wrote this review when I read this book two years ago, and it's still up to now one of the book that influenced and affected my life the most:

First Things First is a self-help book written by Stephen Covey and Roger & Rebecca Merrill. The book aims to teach us how to put our first things first trough a time management system and defining the priorities in our lives. This excellent book had a real impact on my life, and I always recommend it to people who are willing to make their lives more effective.


Surveys show that the purpose of life for the majority of us is to live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy. "First Things First" is a great assistant for all of us to balance our mental, spiritual, physical, and social elements of life. Stephen Covey explains through the book that most people are driven by the concept of urgency. In order to be more effective and relieve our stresses, we need to adjust our concepts to the concept of important – not urgent. This means moving our lives to the Quadrant II activity of the quadrant matrix for importance and urgency (Check the quadrant under the review). The results of properly dedicating ourselves to Quadrant 2 activity are that we will gain control over what is happening in our lives: we will thereby reduce the time we spend in Quadrant 1. Are you wondering where to find time for the activity in Quadrant 2? Of course it must come from Quadrants 3 and 4 by minimizing or eliminating the time you spend there.


At the end, as Covey reminds us in “The Miracle of the Chinese Bamboo Tree”, when a bamboo tree is first planted, all growth for the first four years occurs underground, but in its fifth year the bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet. With this book we can help ourselves develop the roots we need to grow in the years ahead.
Profile Image for JP.
1,163 reviews39 followers
May 18, 2013
A deeper reflection on one of the 7 Habits, this book develops the "4th generation" of time management. Such skill involves knowing inherently one's value and then creating quadrant II space to achieve what is most important. The Laws of Life, such as the principle of the Farm and emotional bank accounts must be considered. The book frequently challenges the paradigm that busy = success and instead replaces it with the value of the compass over the clock, i.e. why scramble in the wrong direction. A key element of 4th generation planning involves starting with roles, listing important objectives, and then scheduling the week around them. The analogy is drawn of putting rocks (important things), gravel, sand, and water (urgent details) into a glass jar. The principle of interdependence is also emphasized.
Profile Image for Hafsa Yusuf.
257 reviews81 followers
March 20, 2014
أفضل كتاب قرأته في الإدارة.
يساعد الإنسان على معرفة الأول��يات في الحياة وفي حياته الشخصية حسب القيم وحسب الرغبات الحقيقية للإنسان نفسه. يساعد أن الإنسان في وضع رسالته في الحياة وأهدافه بطريقة صحيحة. كتاب مفيد أن يقرأه الإنسان من المرحلة الثانوية، ليبدأ حياته الجامعية وما بعدها وفق ما هو أهم وليس فقط مهم :)
Profile Image for Ladyjexie.
136 reviews5 followers
August 20, 2008
Taught me about keeping the first things, the most important things, first.

To keep most of my time on what is important and not urgent. Preparation, prevention, planning, and relationships.

To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy
Displaying 1 - 30 of 620 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.