Wondergirl Posts: 39,354, Reputation: 5431 Jobs & Parenting Expert   #1 Jan 30, 2013, 12:08 PM

Filling the Jar (by Stephen R. Covey in First Things First) A lecturer is standing behind a table on which there is a small pile of baseball-sized rocks and a large wide-mouthed jar. After asking his audience how many rocks can be placed in the jar, he adds the rocks one at a time until no more rocks would fit. Seeing that no more rocks could be added, his audience agreed that the jar was full. blog.jar of stones.jpg The lecturer then produced a container of small stones and dumped it over the rocks, shaking the jar so that the smaller stones filled the nooks and crannies around the larger rocks. This time, his audience agreed that the jar was now full. blog.jar-of-rocks.and.stones.jpg Then he got a bucket of sand, which he dumped into the jar, filling the spaces left by the rocks and small stones. blog.rocks stones sand.jpg When his audience agreed that the jar was finally full, he then began to pour a pitcher of water onto the mixture of rocks and gravel until the jar was unquestionably filled to the top. blog.pour water.jpg Finally, the lecturer explained that if he hadn't put the big rocks into the jar first, he would never have gotten them in. Filling Our Own Jars For practical purposes, we all have big rocks, gravel, sand, and water in our lives. For whatever reason, many people tend to focus on the gravel, sand, and water...which could represent the busy-work and time-filling routines that we allow to consume so much of our time and energy. Focusing on the gravel, sand, and water results in filling our jars with these items which in turn does not leave enough room for the big rocks which represent important issues like health, dreams, personal development, family, and friends. By the end of the day, these 'gravel, sand and water-first' people have neither the time or energy to deal with their big rocks. But boy did they ever nail that sudoku and enjoy playing Angry Birds for three hours straight! In the simplest of terms, time management...whether good or bad...is about making choices. "Or look at it this way,” said the lecturer. “Recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.” “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

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