Habit 3: Put First Things First

The way people spend their time can be broken up into four quadrants The way people spend their time can be broken up into four quadrants. You can see them on this slide. Some things in life are important– you have to get them done to work towards your goals. Some things are urgent- they might not directly impact your goals, but they have to do be done quickly. Some examples of an important thing are doing your homework and finding time to relax. An example of an urgent thing are text messages that keep blowing up your phone. Hand out the “4 Quadrants Cut and Paste” and have students cut out the pieces. They should have one main paper and four squares to glue/tape in. As this lesson continues, have students guess where the papers go based on what they learn. At the end, double-check their answers and have them secure the papers in.

Are these things urgent, important, or both? These are all urgent AND important things. Define “procrastinate.” What is the result of being a procrastinator? (raised stress levels, might not get work done in time, low-quality work, or feeling burnt out) will not be able to do other important things that need to be done) Procrastinators are addicted to urgency and have trouble getting work done if it’s NOT due tomorrow or in an hour.

Are these things important, urgent, or both Are these things important, urgent, or both? These things are NOT important and are NOT urgent. If we focus our time on these things, we will not work toward our goals, will have bad consequences (like what?), and will have to work even harder later to make up for these mistakes. Being a slacker also means that others won’t think we are responsible, we might feel guilt, or friends might think we are unreliable or flakey, and we might miss out on opportunities. We don’t want to be a slacker!

Are these things important, urgent, or both Are these things important, urgent, or both? These things are NOT important but they can be urgent. A Yes-Man feels like a follower instead of a leader. They are not practicing Habit #2 or Habit #1! What were those habits? This person might feel like a doormat or like they don’t have discipline. They fill up their time with urgent things that aren’t important.

Are these things important, urgent, or both Are these things important, urgent, or both? These things are important but not urgent– unless you put them off until the last minute. It’s hard to focus on not-urgent things because the urgent things steal our attention. We should definitely try to do the important things, because those things work toward her goals! Doing those things makes her who she wants to be! The Prioritizer is in control of his/her life, has balance, and can work at his/her best performance level! Now, put the papers on the quadrants that you have in front of you. In a few minutes, we will check to see if you are right!

Big Rocks Little Rocks Water Important things  Urgent Things  Everything Else   The Big Rocks from before represent important things. List important things on the board underneath this (like studying every night). The Little Rocks represent urgent things. List urgent things underneath this (like an assignment you saved for morning advisory). The Water represents everything else. List other things you like to fill your time with underneath this (like video games). Think about the example from the beginning of class. What would happen if we filled our jar up with water (everything else) first? No room for rocks! What if we filled it up with little rocks (urgent things)? No room for big rocks! We have to first spend time on big rocks and then little rocks and THEN water!

Get Out Your Planners! We can be prioritizers by planning ahead! Use planners for DO or DUE Month pages Upcoming Events/Assignments April 15th: Art/Talent Show April 21: Service permission slip due April 28 and 29: Early Out (PTC) April 29: Service Field Trip May 5: SBO Elections (8th only) May 17th: 8th Grade trip permission slip due May 19th: Zoo Field Trip May 20th: Awards and Battle of the Classes May 24: 8th Grade Field Trip May 26: Field Day May 27: Last Day of School Do or due: You can use planners in two different ways. You can write down what you DO’d (did?) in class today or you can write down what is DUE. We usually write down what we did in class. It can be helpful, though, to write down when big projects are due. Some pages in your planner have full months. This is a good page for the “due” assignments and events. This can help you do important things on time, turn in permission slips, and plan relaxation time without it becoming urgent! Have students fill in their month page with these events. Have extra calendar pages ready for those with replacement planners.