The essence of good time management is to learning how to ‘Put First Things First’ but this is often a lot easier said than done. It can be a real challenge and that’s exactly why I developed the 4tm Spreadsheet, to help people to actually internalise this vital success habit.
Click Here to Get the 4tm Spreadsheet
Covey’s excellent book (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) had a real impact on my life. In fact, I always recommend it to people who attend my Personal Development workshops. There is no doubt that the principles outlined in the book are fundamental truths, indeed they were even known to Aristotle.
There are three basic steps that you must take to get what you want out of life …
- Understand that you Can achieve Success
- Define what Success represents, for You
- Organise your life around its Achievement
Don’t underestimate the value of these simple steps because here you have the ultimate success formula. It is the secret that everyone who has ever been successful, in any field of endeavour, has used. It is the real secret of self motivation. You see, we are all truly self motivated people because the motivation to achieve comes from within; and you are already motivated to achieve the things you really want.
But the problem is that most people are driven by the concept of urgency and, to really effect positive change in our lives, we need to reorganise the way we spend our time; based on the concept of importance - not urgency - and that’s what this useful little tool can help you to do.
Using the 4tm Spreadsheet is very simple. It takes no more that one or two minutes at the end of each day to enter an approximation of where you have spent your time that day. It then produces two important graphical representations. Immediately, you can see where you have been spending your time; you can tell whether or not you are getting better at managing your time based on the the Quadrant 2 principle.
Not only that, but it also produces a helpful break-down of your most important priorities. This spreadsheet enables you to get from theory to the practice. It will help you to ensure you focus your efforts on your most important priorities so that you correctly align your effort with your mission and your goals.
You see, we have no real choice when it comes to Quadrant 1 activity because Quadrant 1 operates on us; that is, activity which falls into this category must be done. The real choice is when it comes to Quadrant 2. We can choose to spend time here or not but Quadrant 2 is the key to getting things under control.
The results of properly dedicating ourselves to Quadrant 2 activity are that we will gain control over what is happening in our lives: we will thereby reduce the time we spend in Quadrant 1. Time for Quadrant 2 activity, of course, must come from Quadrants 3 and 4; minimise or eliminate the time you spend here.
The 4tm Spreadsheet provides an instant analysis of where your time is being spent in relation to your mission and goals. It is an extremely useful aid to instantly see if you are spending enough time on your important priorities and whether or not you are getting better at the process of realigning your effort to achieve your goals. The 4tm Spreadsheet is provided free with my book The Deepest Desire of Your Heart.
Get your copy of the 4tm Spreadsheet here … Get the 4tm Spreadsheet