I’ve had this book on my shelf for a long time. After seeing a recommendation from Steve Pavlina, I got to thinking that I might reread Covey’s Seven Habits book and then go on to his newer book The 8th Habit. To my surprise I found I hadn’t read the entire 7 Habits book the first time – the corner of page 149 was folded over.

Well now I finished it and I can report that the advice and strategies outlined by Covey are as relevant today as they were in 1989. This doesn’t make them timeless but a lot of what passed for “Self-help/Psychology/Inspirational” advice in the 1980’s has proved to be hogwash. The one strategy I’m implementing is to plan my time in week long blocks rather than in a shorter day block.

The first step I do is use a wonderful mind mapping tool called FreeMind to map out all my roles. See example below. First I list the roles in my life. Then I add 2-3 things I’d like to accomplish in the coming week in each role. This week I had 3 items for most roles and it was too much to add along with all my usual stuff. So for the coming week I’m limiting myself to 2 items per roles. In the next step I put the items into my Outlook calendar and sync with my palm. Over time I think I’ll have to refine my roles and possibly give some up or trade for new ones. Also I think it might be helpful to separate my professional roles from my personal.

What has me really excited is my new goal of reading a book a week. I’m on my fifth book in five weeks. (I’ll try to review each book after I’ve read it.) This idea I lifted from Steve Pavlina as he demonstrated that in a few short years of using the “book a week” strategy, he had read over 600 books, mostly on personal productivity and was now a personal productivity expert. The reading alone does not make him an expert, many other skills, training and experience combined to make him an expert. How many experts do you know that have read 600 books in their field?