{"id":1029,"date":"2020-06-08T13:58:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T17:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesteadoutdoorproducts.com\/blog\/?p=1029"},"modified":"2020-08-24T14:58:40","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T18:58:40","slug":"good-habits-you-wont-want-to-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homesteadoutdoorproducts.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/08\/good-habits-you-wont-want-to-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Habits You Won\u2019t Want to Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Covey\u2019s the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People\u00ae<\/i> \u2013 Habit #2 & #3<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a>In our last newsletter, we discussed Habit #1 (\u201cBe Proactive\u201d) in Stephen Covey\u2019s book The 7 Habits of Highly
\nEffective People\u00ae.<\/i><\/b><\/span> In this issue, we continue our series on Covey\u2019s concepts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Habit #2:
\n<\/b><\/span>Begin with the End in Mind<\/b>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Covey\u2019s second habit encourages people to use their imagination and visualize what they want to see down the road for their lives and businesses.<\/p>\n

Think about your vision and strive to make sure that all you\u2019re doing in the present is moving you in the direction of your goals.<\/p>\n

Also, you can apply this concept to shorter-term projects in addition to long-term objectives. For example, let\u2019s imagine you\u2019re feeling frustrated because you and your customer are disagreeing about some job details. By keeping your end goals in mind (nice addition to your portfolio, opportunity for referrals, etc.), you may find the patience to work through the immediate challenges without burning any bridges.<\/p>\n

Habit #3:
\n<\/b><\/span>Put First Things First<\/b>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Covey\u2019s third habit stresses the importance of prioritizing your to-dos. He suggests using a four-quadrant approach for identifying what you need to do now vs. later.<\/p>\n

Examples of duties and tasks that might fall into these quadrants include:<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a>1. Urgent and Important
\n<\/span>Worker accidents on the job, rush deadlines, other emergencies<\/p>\n

2. Not Urgent but Important
\n<\/span>Planning, proactive work responsibilities, relationship-building, learning, worker training<\/p>\n

3. Urgent but Not Important<\/span>
\nUnexpected phone calls that do not require immediate action, other needless interruptions, unnecessary meetings<\/p>\n

4. Not Urgent and Not Important<\/span>
\nTrivial tasks, time wasters (television, arguing on social media, etc.)<\/p>\n

The exact responsibilities, tasks, and developments that fall into these categories may vary depending on your business, the time of year, and other factors. Regardless, it\u2019s critical to focus most of your energy on what matters (quadrant two) while tending to what is immediately necessary (quadrant one).<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there are ways to ensure you can spend more of your time on quadrant two activities. For example:<\/p>\n