Lessons Learned

Habit No. 3

Habit No. 3: Put first things first.

"Will and won't power."

Prioritize, Organize. Habit number two tells you what you're working toward. Habit number three helps make those goals priority. Here we learn to manage our time so that our goals stay number one, and to push everything else out of our way. There's at least one efficient way to prioritize and organize the way we can spend our time, and that's by recognizing how much time we spend in each of the four time quadrants. It's organized by important, unimportant, urgent, and not urgent.

The Procrastinator. Spending your time doing Urgent + Important things makes you the Procrastinator. You put off every other kind of thing for the last minute because you're too busy getting things of the utmost importance and urgency done. You then have to get all the less important things done in a hurry, which causes all kinds of stress. The Procrastinator is like an unorganized teacher who spends all day creating and printing tests, then rushes to get tonight's homework together. The results of spending too much time being the Procrastinator are mediocre performance and anxiety.

The Yes-Man. Spending time doing Urgent + Unimportant things makes you the Yes-Man. The Yes-Man is the people-pleaser, who does anything for anyone who asks. The Yes-Man is also usually the one that likes to be popular and is always hanging with his friends, but is never studying for the next upcoming test. In addition, the Yes-Man never does anything for himself, but rather goes wherever the next person says, which means he doesn't accomplish actually important things. Results of being the Yes-Man are lack of discipline and being walked over and used.

The Slacker. Being the Slacker means you spend your time doing Unimportant + Not Urgent things. You watch too much Netflix, get too much sleep, and talk too much on the phone. We can all relate to the Slacker when we spend all day online and in stagram. (LOL.) The Slacker is the one you find out failed summer school and isn't going to graduate. Needless to say, the Slacker gets nothing done, and wastes every day doing things in excess. The Slacker is not someone you should be often. Being the Slacker results in lack of responsibility and accomplishment.

The Prioritizer. Being the Prioritizer is a stress-free dream. This person spends their time doing Important yet Non Urgent things. The Prioritizer plans ahead because the goal doesn't have to be achieved right now, but it will certainly be achieved in time. You can point out the Prioritizer because they're the ones studying the material as its being taught so they can ace  the exam two weeks away. This is also the person who waits until the weekend to party. Results of being the Prioritizer are balance, organization, and high performance.

How Much Is Too Much? Being the Procrastinator is always something everyone will be faced with at one point. You'll want to do everything that looks like it needs to be done and completely stress out. Being the Yes-Man is tempting as well because you may be the type to like to make people happy, however you won't get the important things done. Being the Slacker is by far the easiest person to be, although you will complete none of your goals and all the personal organization you've done by adapting Habits one and two will be in vain. However, being the Prioritizer is the perfect balance, and the more time you spend doing so, the more smoothly your schedule will work out.