Time Management
by - author unknown
A while back I was reading about an expert on
subject of time management. One day this expert was speaking to a group of business
students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never
forget.
As this man stood in front of the group of
high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he
pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of
him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one
at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would
fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said,
"Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached
under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and
shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the
big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By
this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied.
He reached under the table and brought out a bucket
of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between
the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar
full?" "No!" the class shouted. Once again he said,
"Good!"
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to
pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and
asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised
his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try
really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!" "No," the
speaker replied, "that's not the point.
The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you
don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all." What are
the 'big rocks' in your life? A project that YOU want to accomplish? Time with
your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause?
Teaching or mentoring others? |