The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

The Seven Habits An Overview

In 1989, Stephen Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People started a landmark revolution in how we think about time and life management. In this book, Covey presents seven principles for developing effectiveness in our private and public lives. By developing these habits, one moves from being dependent on other people to being and acting independently. Then we learn how to move to the more advanced state of interdependence and successful Cooperation. As a part of the seven habits. Covey introduces important and powerful techniques of time management under the habit of "Put First Things First." It is necessary to understand (and Practice) all seven habits so that the tools of time management can be learned and practiced in their natural setting. What follows is a basic overview of these ideas presented so you can take better advantage of this tool you hold in your hands.

The habits themselves are based on some important principles. One such principle is that of P/PC Balance. "P" refers to production of desired results (such as achieving a particular grade in a course). "PC" refer to production capability or the ability to produce successful results. In managing our lives, we must be careful to balance not only the productivity of our lives but also the abilities to achieve these results. For example, we cannot ignore the activities which help build or maintain our health, finances, relationships, ability to learn etc., in our quest to do more, achieve more, and do all of this faster and more efficiently. Burnout is the inevitable result of P/PC imbalance!

Another basic principle important to understand the 7 habits is the Maturity Continuum. The 7 habits serve as a set of integrated approaches allowing us to move along the maturity continuum from dependence to independence to interdependence. Being dependent means that you depend on other people to take care you and your problems ("You take care of me"). Being independent means that you have taken charge of your life ("I am self-reliant"). Being interdependent means you combine your talents with others to create something greater together than any of you could do alone ("We can do it"). The first of these habits focus on achieving "private victories" which help move us from being dependent to being independent. The next of these habits relate to "public victories" which move us into the realm of interdependence where we can work effectively with others. The last habit ( Sharpening The Saw) encompasses all the others and ensures we engage in activities of personal renewal so that we can maintain our PC abilities! With these concepts as a background, we are now ready to review the habits.

Habit 1 : Be Proactive. The Habit of Personal Vision. According to Covey, this habit reflects our innate ability to take charge of our lives. We are not simply products of in-grained stimulus- response reflexes. We have the ability to take charge, plan ahead, and focus our energies on things we can control instead of reacting to or worrying about things over which we have little or no control. This habit allows us to rise above the ebbs and flows of the tides of our day-to-day lives and direct our lives.

Habit 2 : Begin With the End in Mind. The habit of personal leadership. In this habit, we begin each day, week, project, etc. with a clear vision of our direction and destination. This habit inculcates the ability to create our desired results mentally first in accordance to our guiding principles, and then maintain this vision throughout our daily activities. Part of the process of developing this habit is to develop a personal mission statement, philosophy, or creed. This mission statement focus on what you want to be and do. Your planning activities then can always be refer back to this mission statement so you can maintain a proper perspective on where you are headed and how you hope to get there. This habit is called Personal Leadership because Leadership is considered to be the first creation of your vision which is then managed in your planning and daily activities.

Habit 3 : Put First Things First. The habit of personal management. First Things are those things you find most worth doing according to your personal vision of your mission. We use these priorities to manage our time and events so that every day we are sure to keep these first things first in our lives. A key concept related to this habit is "Quadrant II Planning." The diagram at the end of this section is what Covey calls a "Time Management Matrix." The top of the matrix divides the blocks into things that are Urgent, and Not urgent, and the left side divides the matrix into Important and Not important. Here is a summary of the quadrants.

Quadrant I : Urgent and important. This quadrant includes those items that represent true crises (your mother has a stroke and you need to bring her to the hospital), deadline driven projects (a paper that has a deadline that can not be moved, and represents a substantial part of your grade) and other such truly important and pressing items.

Quadrant II : Not urgent but important. This quadrant includes items that are truly important in our lives (preparation, relationships, relaxation, self-renewal, etc.) that we truly need to do to maintain our PC abilities. Unfortunately, since they are not urgent ("Oh, I can put that off!") we tend not to do them. We procrastinate because they are not urgent. Unfortunately, if we do this long enough, this tends to create highly urgent crises which then force us back into Quadrant I and gives us less time doing quality activities. Upon reflection, most of us would conclude that our First Things fall in Quadrant II. Hence ignoring things, but we are setting up conditions so that we will have even less time to devote to these vitally important activities. If you don't take the time to plan for your paper and manage your time on that project you will find yourself having to stay up all night to get it done. And if that night is your significant other's birthday, boy are you going to regret having to spend time in Quadrant I that night.

Quadrant III : Urgent but not important. This quadrant contains those activities which appear to be urgent (or at least seem to demand our attention as such) but are really not that important. Examples include : needless interruptions, many phone calls, other people's minor issues (which they invariably seek to make