First Things First

Drawing on the principles of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, this revolutionary guide to time management espouses a balanced life based on genuine relationships and the principles of effectiveness and leadership. 125,000 first printing.

Time management isn't enough, say Covey and his co-authors, Roger and Rebecca Merrill. But it's an effective starting point, so first lay out your life in four quadrants labeled urgent, not urgent, important, and unimportant. That is, a task may have a deadline, but not much importance; or a task may be important, but require preparation and planning. You should stop doing what's unimportant and without urgency. Where the important and the urgent intersect is where you need to expend most of your energies. Assuming that urgency announces itself, the real question is knowing what's important, and Covey and the Merrills draw from a variety of sources to guide you toward determining just that. Much of their argument goes beyond the linear time of time management and centers on quality time; to properly prioritize and spend one's moments happily and productively, one sets goals--or principles--from which all else flows. These goals embody a perfect balance of the mental, the physical, the spiritual, and the social--that is, you need a challenging job, you need to exercise, you need a system of beliefs, and you need someone to love you. Covey, whose The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People has sold 4,000,000 copies, with the aid of the Merrills again offers common sense for those who are working like dogs and, in the bargain, living dogs' lives. John Mort

Covey ( The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People , LJ 3/15/90) and Roger and Rebecca Merrill here create a new paradigm for taking control of busy lives. Unlike the dozens of self-help books that focus on the clock or the way people spend their time, they offer a "principle-centered" approach to time management that emphasizes what "represents our vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction--what we feel is important and how we lead our lives." The authors argue that central to our lives are "four needs and capacities--to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy." The ideas here are not only clearly explained but are reinforced by scenarios from the authors' lives and self-directed activities for the reader. Introspection and self-reflection play a larger role here than in most time management books. Highly recommended for all types of collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/93.
- Jane M. Kathman, Coll. of St. Benedict Lib., St. Joseph, Minn.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.