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)

its just a Overview.. Disappointed

What would have made First Things First better?

I purchased hoping that i would cover the entire book. Well it just overview in 1 hr timeframe. I hope you will release entire book.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment because it didn't cover the entire book for this money.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

NOT THE WHOLE BOOK,

What disappointed you about First Things First?

This recording is only a little over an hour long. The book is nearly 300 pages. Do the math. Most of it's missing.

What could the authors have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Included the entire book as this is not the abridged version

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He didn't read the whole thing.

Any additional comments?

Skip it. Buy the book.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Warning: Only one hour long.

Any additional comments?

This is an abridged version of the book. I bought it under the assumption that it would be a full audio book and was disappointed to find it was only 1 hour long.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Nothing New over the other books

I can't say that there is anything new here. This book does not seem to answer the question of how to put First things First as the title suggests. In my humble opinion this is just a filler book. One written to keep the public interested in Franklin Covey until they could come up with something else. if your are trying to develop your Mission statement and roles and goal and to follow thru on them a better book to get is What Matters Most.

32 of 43 people found this review helpful

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.

9 of 12 people found this review helpful

Very difficult to listen to

I found this audio title very difficult to listen to. While Steven Covey is a good narrator, the same can definitely not be said of the co-authors A Roger Merril and Rebecca R Merril. Also, I expected more concrete advice on how to put first things first. This title harps on and on about why you need to put first things first. We get that! Now we need to know how! Not a worthwhile listen

10 of 14 people found this review helpful

Audio Book vs Paperback

The audio book offers very little value and is about 1/9 of the material covered in the hard copy. I ordered the audio book for school and ended up having to purchase both. Skip this one.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

100% Fluff

Very touchy-feely. Very little substance, not systematic, mostly a rewrite of his Effective People books. I was looking for something else.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Not a book

I own the physical book and I've read it. This is not the same thing. Calling this an abridged version of the actual book should be a crime. The actual book contains so much more valuable content than this summarized version. I doubt the authors would try to sell this "abridged" version as a physical book, because it would never sell - so why do they think it's appropriate in this format? Are audio book listeners unequal to physical book readers? I'm baffled.

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!

Repetitious

Very insightful and helpful but repetitious of the 7 Habits. of Highly Effective People by the same author.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Best book for life management

Its a brilliant book. Its message came across better in the form of an audio book read by authors themselves. The book has profound wisdom about our modern day lives, and pinpoints where thongs are going wrong. Life changing.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fantastic

A complete set of guidelines for life organisation. This is practical and useful. I Like it.

Great stuff.

Best philosophical and practical self management book on the planet. This audio version a bit short but still valuable.

Everyone should be made to listen to this.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes definitely. This should mandatory reading/listening for everyone caught up on the daily hamster wheel of life, running at a hundred miles an hour and forgetting what life is really all about.

What did you like best about this story?

The relaxing tone of the author/narrator and his ability to make one think very quickly of the things that give meaning to our personal journey of life.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances? How does this one compare?

All are highly enjoyable. It is best to be somewhat relaxed when listening otherwise the speed of delivery may be frustrating.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It often made me smile when asked to think of the things that are important in my life.

utter tosh.

There is nothing useful in this book. It is no more than drivel. The author speaks for the sake of speaking. It is a complete waste of money.

1 of 9 people found this review helpful