If there’s one habit from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that people struggle with the most, it’s Habit 3: Put First Things First. As Stephen R. Covey explains, the challenge comes down to urgency. In today’s fast-paced world, we’re addicted to urgency—constantly reacting to emails, notifications, and last-minute requests, while the truly important things in life often get pushed aside.
Covey emphasizes that every one of the 7 Habits falls into Quadrant II—things that are important but not urgent. These are the high-impact activities that improve relationships, increase personal effectiveness, and create long-term success. The more time we spend in Quadrant II, the greater our ability to manage our lives around our deepest priorities.
The Busyness Trap
“Busyness has become a status symbol,” Covey writes, citing author Brigid Schulte’s observation that being overwhelmed has replaced leisure as a sign of success. In many workplaces, long hours and constant connectivity are seen as markers of dedication. But the reality is, busyness does not equal productivity.
Research shows that 51.2% of our time is spent responding to urgent tasks, many of which have little real value. Meanwhile, the truly important work—the Quadrant II activities—only receive 30.8% of our time on average. This imbalance leads to stress, burnout, and a lack of progress on our most meaningful goals.
Breaking the Urgency Addiction
The key to overcoming our addiction to urgency is shifting our paradigm from urgency to importance. This means:
– Learning to say no to distractions and low-value tasks. Covey reminds us, “The key to saying No is to have a deeper Yes burning inside of you.”
– Recognizing that the return on Quadrant II activities is exponential, while the return on Quadrants III and IV is virtually nonexistent.
– Avoiding the mental “tunneling” effect, where we focus only on immediate, low-value tasks instead of thinking strategically.
One of the simplest but most powerful strategies Covey recommends is setting aside 30 minutes each week to plan your week. This small habit can transform the way you manage your time and help you stay focused on what truly matters.
Living Proactively: Walking Your Talk
Sean Covey shares a personal example of his father’s weekly planning routine, showing that Stephen R. truly practiced what he taught. He would sit down each Sunday, write down his roles, and ask, “What is the most important thing I can do in this role this week?” By proactively scheduling time for key priorities, he ensured that his values were reflected in his daily actions. The goal of Habit 3 is to take control of our time, ensuring that our actions align with our deepest priorities. When we do this consistently, we move from reactive busyness to proactive effectiveness.
Reflection Questions:
1. What was your score on the Urgency Index? Did it surprise you?
2. How much of your time is currently spent in Quadrant II? What’s preventing you from spending more time there?
3. What is one Quadrant III or IV activity you can eliminate this week to free up time for what truly matters?
4. Do you set aside time for weekly planning? If not, how could you start?
By intentionally focusing on what’s important over what’s merely urgent, we can reclaim our time and energy for the things that truly matter. What’s one step you’ll take this week to live Habit 3 more fully? Come back on April 14 as we discuss pages 215-234 and learn about the Paradigms of Interdependence.
“As you work to develop a Quadrant II paradigm, you will increase your ability to organize and execute every week of your life around your deepest priorities, to walk your talk. You will not be dependent on any other person or thing for the effective management of your life. Interestingly, every one of the 7 Habits is in Quadrant II. Every one deals with fundamentally important things that, if done on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in our lives.”
“This is the habit, in general, that people struggle with the most.”
“Why is Habit 3 so hard? It’s urgency, plain and simple. And the reality is most of us are addicted to urgency.”
“Busyness has become a status symbol.”
“As author Brigid Schulte writes, ‘Unlike a century ago, when Americans shows their status in leisure time, busyness has become the new badge of honor. So even as we bemoan workplaces where everyone is busy and no one is productive, busyness has actually become the way to signal dedication to the job and leadership potential. One reason for this is that, while productivity is relatively easy to measure on a factory floor, or on the farm, we have yet to develop good metrics for measuring the productivity of knowledge workers. So we largely rely on hours worked and face time in the office as markers for effort, and with the advent of technology and the ability to work remotely, being connected and responsive at all hours is the new face time.’”
“The solution to overcoming your urgency addiction is to shift your paradigm from one of urgency to one of importance.”
“Thanks to smartphones, social media, and the like, it is increasingly difficult to stay out of Quadrants I and III.”
“51.2 percent of our time is spent responding to things that are urgent.”
“It’s too bad, on average, that we only spend 30.8 percent of our time here. Time in Quadrant II results in improved relationships, high performance, and balance.”
“The return on the time and energy you spend in Quadrant II is exponential, while the return on Quadrant I is only equivalent to the input, and the return on Quadrants III and IV is virtually nonexistent.”
“When time is scarce, we go through what psychologists call ‘tunneling,’ meaning we can only concentrate on the most immediate, often low-value tasks.”
“The remedy to Quadrant III is to start saying No….The key to saying No is to have a deeper Yes burning inside of you….the enemy of the best is the good.”
“Set aside thirty minutes each week to plan your week, and watch it change your life.”
“I’d watch Dad do his weekly planning, usually on Sunday nights. He’d sit down, write down his various roles, then think through what he wanted to accomplish for each role during that week. He was big on listening to one’s conscience and asking the question, ‘What is the most important thing I can do in this role this week?’”
What was your score on the Urgency Index? Did this number surprise you?
2 Responses
The book “5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity” is an excellent resource for implementing this habit!
Urgency is only becoming a greater obstacle to thinking and executing strategically! Thanks for the encouragement and reminder to focus on what matters most.