Stephen Covey's time management approach focuses on living in Quadrant II, where activities are both important and not urgent. This involves focusing on relationships, prevention, and long-term goals and priorities rather than just urgent tasks. Highly effective people spend their time in Quadrant II by being proactive and putting first things first through weekly planning and scheduling their most important priorities.

1. Time Management According
to Stephen Covey
Habits are like a cable:
We weave a strand everyday
and soon it cannot be broken
Glen B. Alleman
3.6.03

2. 4 Generations of Time Management
 1st Generation – notes and checklists
 2nd Generation – calendars and
appointment books
 3rd Generation – prioritization, clarifying
values, comparing relative worth of activities
 4th Generation – focus on preserving and
enhancing relationships, accomplishing
results
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

3. The Seven Habits
 Private Habits
 Be proactive
 Begin with the end in mind
 Put first things first
 Public Habits
 Think win / win
 Seek first to understand, then to be understood
 Synergize
 Renewal Habits
 Sharpen the saw
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

4. The Time Management Matrix
Urgent Not Urgent
I II
Crises Prevention
Important Pressing Problems Relationship Building
Deadline Driven Planning
Projects New Opportunities
III IV
Interruptions Trivia
Not
Mail Busy work
Important
Meetings Pleasant activities
Popular activities
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

5. Results of Living in anything other
than Quadrant II
 Quadrant I
 Stress
 Burnout
 Crisis management
 Always putting out fires
 Quadrant III  Quadrant IV
 Short term focus  Total irresponsibility
 Crises management  Fired from jobs
 Reputation-chameleon character  Dependent on others
 See goals and plans as worthless
 Feel victimized and out of control
 Shallow or broken relationships
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

6. Highly Effective People …
 Are not problem minded, they’re
opportunity minded
 Feed opportunities and starve
problems
 Think preventively
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

7. Habit 3: Putting First Things
First …
This is the place to start when
improving our daily work
activities.
Glen B. Alleman
3.6.03

8. Time Management and Quadrant II
 The only way to get time for Quadrant II is to take it
from Quadrant III and Quadrant IV.
 You can’t ignore the urgent and important activities
in Quadrant I, but they will shrink with time.
 You have to be proactive in Quadrant II at all times
 Quadrant I and Quadrant III work “on” you, wear you down.
 To say “yes” to important Quadrant II activities, you have to
say “no” to all other activities.
 In the end you have to say “no” to something, so
choose Quadrant III and IV activities.
“If you want to get something done, go see a busy
man (or woman).”
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

9. Quadrant II Tools
 Coherence – create harmony, unity, and integrity
between your vision and mission, between goals and
roles, between priorities and plans, and between
desires and disciplines.
 Balance – identify roles and goals and keep them in
front of you.
 Quadrant II Focus – organize on a weekly basis
 The “People” dimension – deal with people not just
schedules. Think in terms of effectiveness when
dealing with people not just efficiency of tools (email,
schedules, reports, voice mail).
 Flexibility – planning tools must be servants, never
the master.
 Portability – carry the tools with you at all times.
Review plans and commitments continuously.
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

10. The Path to Quadrant II
 Form follows function – management follows
leadership.
 It is almost impossible to:
 Say “no” to the popularity of Quadrant III tasks.
 To escape the pleasure of Quadrant IV
If you don’t have a bigger “yes” burning inside you.
 Only when you have the self-awareness to examine
your program can you say “yes” to the proper
requests.
 Only then can you say “no” with a genuine smile to
the unimportant.
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

11. Myths of Time Management
 Daily planning often misses important things that can
only be seen from a larger perspective.
 While prioritization provides order to activity, it
doesn’t question the essential importance of the
activity.
 The realism of everyday productivity must be
addresses. Over scheduling the day results in
frustration.
The Key Concept of Quadrant II
 Organizing on a weekly basis provides a much
greater balance and context than daily planning.
 The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule,
but to schedule your priorities.
 This can best be done in the context of a week.
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04

12. Self Managing in Quadrant II
 Identifying roles – what do you do here to add
value?
 Selecting goals – what accomplishments need to be
delivered to provide value?
 Long–term Scheduling – look ahead with your goals
and schedule time to achieve them.
 Weekly organizing – translate each goal into a day
of the week as a specific appointment.
 Daily adapting – each morning review the “plan for
the day,” and prioritize the “value producing”
activities.
Glen B. Alleman
4.19.04