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)

Spoken with depth for impact

Spoken with depth for impact. It seeemed every sentence was thought out for maximum meaning and influence. This audio has changed how I look at every moment of my day. I am conscious of every event and my role in it. It is obvious that is what Covey and the Merrill's wanted. Great effort many thanks for doing it personally!!

A must read/listen

No wonder it is a classic. While the book goes flawlessly across concepts, it needs to be thought of as a practical guide that needs to be implemented immediately.

Book, that is only part from the 7 habits book

Yeah it is true. It's basically the same thing you will find in main book. But none the less - I liked this book, and I recommend it to everyone. The book itself is short, but filled with very useful information. I had listened to original 7 habits book, and then to 7 habits of highly effective families, and now this (and will continue on with all his books). And to be honest - only in this book, where it was mentioned that example about bowl - fill it with stones, sand, water... the main idea of it - I only grasped now, in this book, but I had heard that story many many times.. It is just proof to me that re-listening over and over again same things - you grasp more and more. Totally worth it!

SUMMARY - NOT the whole book

For what it is, which is a summary of points from First Things First, it is a fine audio production.
However, if you're looking for the whole book, it is currently unavailable on Audible (as of Feb 2021), so don't waste a credit on this summary. Go download 'The 7 Habits' instead! Cheers.

My annual read

I read this (now listen) book once a year, hands down the most influential book I have read for my personal development and I read it annual cause it is a compass for me that I can always be reminded about and reinforce in my life.

A lot of good stuff in a short amount of time

I enjoyed Stephen Covey’s perspective on these important topics in a very concise and high-level manner.

Great choice

Love the insight provided. The knowledge gained is valuable and can be applied. Great book !

True North

I like the idea of having a life mission & implementing it in our daily lives. I think however that we should ask each woman what her purpose/passion/goal in life is rather than assuming that she should be happy giving birth to kids and cleaning the house. For example, sometimes men could help us more, so we can do other great things for humanity.

great contribution .

it is not as complete as the book but is useful
Will like to learn more about Q2 principle.

Great Book

This is a great book and helps me to keep work in perspective during my 45 minute to 1 hour commute to work.