First thing

I'll meet you first thing at the station.

Some of 'em said that when a boy had been away from home a couple of years he ought to want to see his folks the first thing.

I'll do it first thing after school tomorrow.

You had to see it first thing, 'cause it was the first thing that caught the eye.

Whatever it is, getting it out of the way is crucial to your forward momentum. So, to borrow a phrase from Nike, just do it—and do it first thing.

I would help you, but I don't know the first thing about gardening.

I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.