First Things First

By: Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill

Narrated by: Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill

Length: 1 hr and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

First Things First is a revolutionary guide to managing your time by learning how to balance your life. Traditional time management suggests that working harder, smarter, and faster will help you gain control over your life, and that increased control will bring peace and fulfillment. But in the first real breakthrough in time management in years, the authors of First Things First apply the insights of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to our daily problems of struggling with the ever-increasing demands of work and home life.

Rather than focusing on time and things, First Things First emphasizes relationships and results. And instead of efficiency, this new approach emphasizes effectiveness. It tells us why we feel a gap between how we spend our time and what's deeply important to us; how focusing on efficiency and control increases the gap instead of closing it; how to determine if what you're doing is really important, or only urgent; how to overcome the tremendous gravity of habit; how to put people ahead of schedules; and how to lead your life, not just manage your time.

Offering a principle-centered approach and the wisdom and insight that made The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People a #1 best seller, First Things First empowers listeners to define what is truly important; to accomplish worthwhile goals; and to lead rich, rewarding, and balanced lives.

©1997 Stephen R. Covey (P)1997 Covey Leadership Center, Inc.

Critic reviews

"I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be helped by reading it." (Larry King)

A must read for 7 Habits fans!!

Quadrant 2 is explained in depth. It's a great listen. Covey is great reading the material--it's just like being in the room with him.

Maybe the best book

Great and concise. Probably the best personal growth book i have read / heard so far

This book is excellent

This is an excellent book. It helps one to develop a schedule based on correct principles instead of on a clock system. That way your time is spent doing what is important rather than have your life dominated by the urgent. (urgent doesn't necessarily mean important), listen to the book.
I have ADHD and this recording and the print book have been very valuable to me. I would recommend using it along with the print version of the book along with the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Covey Always Worth the Read

You can't go wrong with a book written by Covey. This is a good intro to the 7 Habits are a supplement to that book.

abridged version beware

didn't realise this was an abridged version. very short and definitely not worth a credit.

frankly nothing new from 7 habits of highly effective people.

not worth it.

Incredible principles that are the key to effective living and time management.

Highly recommend for anyone in high leverage positions or looking achieve difficult and time consuming goals.

Might be easier to follow with book

The terminology is hard to follow without a visual reference and how they all intersect.

Everyone should take the time for this!

Everyone should listen to this & try to incorporate it. I turn to this when I am stressed & overwhelmed or feeling out of control & it never fails to remind me of the tools to get back in charge of my own happiness & purpose.

Definitely abridged

I was sad that this was not the full book, but it was what I needed/wanted. I have the book and have read it a couple times and have been applying the principles I learned through it for 6 years. It has made a great impact on my life. It is hard for me to make time to review the book as often as I would wish so I bought this with a desire to listen and review it while cleaning. It has and will work great for that purpose. I gave the story 3 stars because it was so shortened. I would have preferred to have the full book, but it works great for my intentions. If you have not read the book, I would recommend that you get this either after reading the book (for similar purposes as mine) or as an opportunity to find out what it's all about before purchasing the book and taking the time to read it. I am a homemaker and this book and what it teaches has really helped me in putting the first things first in my life and finding joy and happiness in a role that can be a bit overwhelming:)

Great content, too bad it's abridged.

Great content, too bad it's abridged. Way too short, would like to get audio version of full book.