Stephen Covey - First Things First - Time Management

Following up on my Dale Carnegie's Leadership course and aspiring to become a Partner. I discovered Stephen Covey's First Things First and the 4 Quadrants on Time Management in a book store.
This bookstore was located in an upscale mall. At that time, I did not realise that the mall was upscale, since I frequented it to access different services. One of the main attractions was that the mall was close enough to walk to so that I got in some exercise. The walk was through a neighbourhood which was considered safe so that walking in that area when it was getting dark as it was prone to at six thirty in the evening was not a foolish choice and boy was there freedom, as I could alternate between walking and running just for the fun of it. 

Anyway, on reading the book, I decided that I would try to adopt the 4 Quadrant approach to managing my time. See the diagram on the right which is self explanatory. I looked at both diagrams carefully, and I decided I would prioritise. Me who had managed my work life quite successfully was now about to apply a different kind of structure.

Possibly it was the pending merger between two firms or some other reason, however this quadrant exercise was like the beginning of the end.

In short, I left a position that I had worked to reach in a dedicated way for a number of years. And there was a change in my life!!!

Update:  These days I use the concepts as expressed above and below  from time to time mixed in with my old style of getting things done. As good as it is, in providing expertise, knowledge, a good way to manage, it does not dictate how my day goes. It is good to have the knowledge of another way to do things, as, in knowledge there is power, however experience can provide skill which can also work for you and you always have the choice of using the works/acts of mercy/charity in your life..

I've been listening to: An excerpt from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Today, someone was inspired to read an excerpt from "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" during a daily gathering of members of staff. The person chose to read on "Paradigm Shift"  This brought on a whole lot of thinking and some research.


This book covers topics in a manner which is similar to  a Leadership Training course originally developed by Dale Carnegie which I attended over a period of weeks some years ago.  The reason for the course being spread over several weeks was to allow for the practice of the concepts, both in the area of work and in interaction with others at the course.  See the following website which allows for access to courses. http://www.dalecarnegie.com/
The purpose of the course was to develop leadership skills, project planning,  instill concepts of a different way of behaving which were thought provoking and enlightening. Attending this course was one the better moments of training in a career that covered training on many technical areas, from International Accounting Standards, to using software  to document audit plans.
One of the books which was given out at the course is the highly prized, " How to Win friends and Influence People on which there is a wiki article  which provides excellent coverage.  See excerpt and link below:

Major sections and points

• 1.1 Twelve Things This Book Will Do For You
• 1.2 Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
• 1.3 Six Ways to Make People Like You
• 1.4 Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
• 1.5 Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
• 1.6 Letters That Produced Miraculous Results
• 1.7 Seven Rules For Making Your Home Life Happier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People




Shortly after attending that course I started reading books by Stephen Covey which is another story.

 Remembering that I was told that you can re read these books, and gain new insights, I belive that I will attempt to buy the Kindle version of the books from Amazon which allows for accessing books via a laptop  with the  use of a reading tool which is absolutely free.

Another benefit of purchasing the books online is that the books which are purchased are stored on my Amazon account. Wonderful, eh,  if I lose the book or cannot access the laptop, I will still be able to re read the book.

Another benefit which I discovered tonight is that You Tube has an audio of the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. I will get around to listening to the audio version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i49Z92_NSxI
Back to the original concept of Paradigm Shift, here is a You Tube link:

https://www.google.tt/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CC4QtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dv2HLnqdg9TQ&ei=cg36UJXWG4i50AGRyoCYBA&usg=AFQjCNHUoEMfmAWYuwa_fy98U6j4KLmvmQ&sig2=AA0Ijk8EP_QOCBjYgJNXgQ&bvm=bv.41248874,d.dmQ