I plan to teach this habit to my sons by talking with them about the rocks analogy, and asking them to consider what their "first things" are. I will encourage them to do as Dr. Pumpling mentioned in the video: focus on what's important and plan their time according to those priorities in order to achieve their highest priorities. I don't know that they've given serious thought to those priorities yet, and I think we can have a good conversation about what is most important to them and what they can do to get what they want.
This habit of mind, First Things First, is an important life skill, but also something that is very hard to live on a day to day basis. There are so many demands on our time, and everything seems to be so important, that it's hard to prioritize. I sometimes feel that I am getting everything done, but that I'm not doing all things well. I do find I'm most productive when I keep a list of the things I need to do during a certain period of time, and I love the feeling of crossing things off a list. My commitment this week, to keep the habit in the forefront of my mind, is to keep Covey's rock analogy in mind. As I look at my responsibilities for work, school, family, and church I will focus on what's truly important in order plan how I will use my time based on the priorities. My "truly important" tasks reflect what I value: family first, work/school second, other responsibilities third. My plan to help me to continue to put first things first is to begin to consistently use an app I have on my phone: Wunderlist. I like this app because I can great lists for the different areas of my life: work, family, church, etc. Another advantage of the app is I can literally cross things off the list when they're accomplished, and I know that positive reinforcement will help me to stay focused. I plan to teach this habit to my sons by talking with them about the rocks analogy, and asking them to consider what their "first things" are. I will encourage them to do as Dr. Pumpling mentioned in the video: focus on what's important and plan their time according to those priorities in order to achieve their highest priorities. I don't know that they've given serious thought to those priorities yet, and I think we can have a good conversation about what is most important to them and what they can do to get what they want.
4 Comments
Bill
2/10/2015 03:26:12 am
Dena,
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Dena
2/10/2015 11:16:45 am
Let me know what you think of the app. I love lists -- because if I don't write things down I tend to forget them!
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2/10/2015 07:47:53 am
I agree that prioritizing becomes a huge job in itself. It is not easy to accomplish everything we need to, especially when one is wearing many hats. It really is a good feeling to be able to check out things on the list. I will check out that app you are using hopefully it will be as helpful for me.
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Dena
2/10/2015 11:18:14 am
Let me know what you think of the app, Angela. I know there are others out there. I tried "Remember the Milk" for awhile, too. I like that app, but a teacher at my site mentioned WunderList -- and she said you can share lists with others. I haven't tried that yet.
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Dena hause
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