First Things First :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

This booked really helped me

2008-07-23
I give this book five stars as it really helped me organise and prioritise my life.
I develped a great mission statement, I review my roles weekly, and I am so happy with all the things I am achieving.
I am also developing Integrity, really! Rather than just talking the talk I am walking the talk. I have had a few friends recently comment on my input into their lives.
I now can schedule, my personal goals weekly, my family goals with my two young children, making my husband happy, doing commmunity work and looking out for my friends. Whilst I am still a work in progress, this book together with the 7 habits, have made a huge impact in my world.
I have read SO many self help books, but in the end they just made me feel bad that I wasnt achieving all these things. But FTF, really makes you think about whats important to you, there is no use in following someone elses plan if those values dont resonate within your own world or heart.
Go ahead and get this, read it and apply it. Slowly you will see how putting FTF can rock your little world.

A great simple framework

2008-06-21
The book provides a great framework for being productive - focusing on the important over the urgent. It covers the dangers of spending too much time on things that others deem mandatory, sacrificing what is truly valuable.

Two dissenting thoughts on the book. The first is the obvious - "If only it were so easy..." Of course if it were easy, there would be no need for the book. The second is that the key concepts could be delivered in a much shorter format. But that's a small complaint - how expensive is a $12 paperback? It pays for itself with even a small improvement in personal productivity.

Urgent and important

2008-06-08
Despite the fact that I plan my week using the Covey time management principles as a result of having taught this program for many years some time back, I recently re-read the book.

What struck me was that the lessons are timeless. I doubt if anyone is going to come up with as powerful a matrix as Stephen's and the Merrills' to sum up how we spend time.

Once you grasp the difference between managing your time and leading your life, you will never turn back.

Many years ago, as a Covey apprentice, I used the annual planner to analyse how I had spent the entire past year. The result enabled me to change my life by highlighting where I needed to increase my leverage. Could I have come to the same conclusion through common sense and discipline? Perhaps. BUT - I hadn't! I came to these conclusions because the book presented strategies and tools to make it easy.

The recent re-read has allowed me to connect again with the system.

And of course, I have yet to come across another system that tackles motivation as robustly. Good intentions often fall by the wayside but with First Things First, you have tools to support and reinforce those good intentions.

The greatest strength of the book for me, lies in the single lesson of Quadrant 4, that is, a section of your total time allocation devoted to IMPORTANT things - not emergencies - but things that can be planned and then YOU decide what's important to you and plan to do it. That way it gets done.

First Things First

2008-01-14
This book is phenomenal. It encourages us to create a vision for where we want to eventually end up in life and gives us the necessary tools to get there. It is a very good reminder of what really matters. I highly recommend it!

For the individual always on the run

2007-12-21
This is a great book to read for those of us who juggle life. It talks about how to prioritize and how to over come Urgency Addition. If there was one book to make the time to read, it should be this one.

Excellent Life Management Book

2007-06-22
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 so often our first things aren't first. 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.

A Lifetime Guide 2007-02-05
I have bought this book for four years, read over it for many times.

If I can only take one book with me to another world, I will take this one. It is a good guide to how to live for a lifetime.

It begins with the foundamental principles, then gradually teachs you how to live a better life based on those principles. Every sentence is a sentence of truth. Everytime I have setback, I go back to this book; and everytime, I find that I have violated a principle.

Over four years, I become a different person.

What's important in your life? 2007-01-23
What's important in your life? What do you really want to accomplish? What do you want to see completed at the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of the month, at the end of the year, and, ultimately, what do you want to have accomplished by the end of your life?

Getting things in line in your life, learning to set priorities, not just for money, purchases, and trivial things, but for more important things. How about family, relationships, and career?

great getting it together tool 2007-01-18
I purchased this book as a Christmas gift for someone special who told me since reading the book he has been able to adapt a positive change in his busy and hetic life in a very positive way. He has been able to put in priority and balance the pressures, responsibilities, expetations of both his personal and business life,

Good Book 2006-12-05
I bought this book because I needed some guidance to start putting things back in order in my life. Eventhough it focus on business and work, it provides some helpful hints to apply on you personal life.