First Things First: Managing Your Time, Roles, and Energy with Intention

Facilitator: Dr. Susan G. Bowen, Vice President and Chief Campus Operations Officer, 
In our fast-paced professional and personal lives, it’s easy to spend time reacting to the urgent rather than focusing on the important. Drawing on Stephen Covey’s Principle of Putting First Things First, this session helps participants align their daily actions with their highest priorities. Participants will explore the multiple roles they play—leader, colleague, parent, partner, friend—and learn strategies to plan their week and day around what truly matters most. Through reflection, guided discussion, and practical tools, attendees will gain clarity on their core responsibilities, identify time-wasters, and design a realistic structure for managing their energy and attention across competing priorities.

1. Explain Covey’s principle of Putting First Things First and its connection to personal and professional effectiveness.

2. Identify their key life and work roles and the values or goals associated with each.

3. Analyze how they currently spend their time and recognize gaps between intention and action.

4. Apply Covey’s Time Management Matrix to prioritize tasks and manage their week proactively.

5. Develop a personalized weekly and daily planning framework that supports balance, focus, and results.