Stephen Covey and his Seven Habits -- First Thing in the Morning

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If Stephen Covey's Seven Habits philosophy seems to you to make sense, then the challenge is to live with it for a period of time, to test out its worth. This is the essence of scientific method: follow your hunch that you think something might be worth pursuing by testing it out in the real world. Indeed, much of the "self-help" movement suggests such projects as a "thirty day challenge," even if this is not done so specifically by Covey.

Covey emphasizes planning, but he suggests planning based on the week rather than the day. This is because, for most people reading this, you are already in a society that divides things up into seven day cycles, so it only seems appropriate that a good starting point would be to fit it with what the rest of your community is doing.

Covey, however, does not neglect the obvious issue that life comes to us in "day-tight compartments," that is, like most(?) species, day and night and our bodies are somehow in sync. The key is not to live in "day-tight compartments" that are so tight that they become divorced from the bigger picture.

Covey, again here, turns to the concept of roles, under which can be grouped goals. He suggests therefore, at the beginning of each week, slotting in the goals you have as related to the roles you have determined yourself to have, across the week. Of course, in practice, these are usually going to be "sub-goals" or "mini-goals", but the emphasis, nevertheless, is working on objectives, and not simply on filling up your schedule.