At the beginning of every week, write a two-by-two matrix on a blank sheet of paper.One side of the matrix says "urgent" and "not urgent".&nbsp; The other side of the matrix says "important" and "not important."&nbsp;Then, write all the things you want to do that week.

Time management matrix

Time Management

Self Improvement

These are the most pressing tasks we'll likely get to this week.&nbsp; When we do fire-fighting, it's all relating to stuff in this quadrant.

Quadrant 1: Urgent-Important

These are the things that matter in the long-term but will offer no concrete benefits right now or even this year. They are things we know we need to get to but probably will push off.&nbsp;

Quadrant 2: Not Urgent - Important

These tasks keep us busy today, but if we stop to really think about it, were a waste of time.&nbsp;These are interruptions that happen, such as phone calls.

Quadrant 3: Urgent - Not Important

These things are the time wasters we do because we feel like we're tired and need a break: checking and rechecking Facebook and Twitter during the day, or mindlessly eating, even though we're not hungry.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Quadrant 4: Not Urgent - Not Important

Quadrant 1 (the urgent/important tasks) you will always automatically take care off. Quadrants 3 &amp; 4 should be eliminated to a great extent.Quadrant 2&nbsp;(not urgent but important) is what will change your life over time. At least 10% of your day needs to be devoted to this important but not urgent stuff. Ideally, you're spending 30% of every day on this.

The most important quadrant

Stephen Covey died last week. He pioneered the business self-help genre with the 1989 publication of his mega-hit book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." When I saw he died, I got a little panic-stricken because I couldn't remember a single one of the seven habits.