We all have just 24 hours in a day. We all have limited amount of physical, mental, and emotional energy we can spend daily. The things we choose to do, to think about, or to get upset about are what we spend this precious energy on. How do we make sure that we invest it in things that are really important and worthwhile for us? How do we not get sidetracked by things of little importance and by mental energies that are not really serving us?
Here is an anecdote that drastically changed my way of looking at time and energy management. I learned it when taking a Franklin Covey time management course.
A professor brought a large empty glass jar to a lecture on time management and asked his class: “Is this jar full or empty?” The students responded: “It’s empty”. Then the professor filled it with large, fist-size stones. “Now is it full or empty?” he asked. The students responded: “It’s full”. Then he poured gravel into the jar and the gravel filled the spaces between the large stones. “And now, is it full or empty?” he asked. Some of the students said it was full; some got the idea and said that he could still pour sand to fill the spaces between the gravel. The professor did just that. He repeated his question. Students suggested he could still fill it up more with water. “Right”, he said, and he poured water into the jar. Now everyone agreed that the jar was finally full and there was no unused space left. “What’s the moral of this story?” the professor asked. “The moral is that you can always squeeze more into your day even though you think your schedule is already full”, the students volunteered. “No”, said the professor, the moral of this story is that if you don’t put your largest stones into the jar first, you won’t be able to squeeze them in later. If you don’t make time to do the things that really matter to you on every day basis, the smaller and less important stuff will surely take over your day”.
So are you putting your large stones into your jar first or are you busing yourself with “other things” and then you don’t have time and energy to do what really matters?
Today, I invite you to ask yourself what the big and important stones in your life are. What is the gravel and sand for you? And what is just water? When you schedule your week, your day, I invite you to make sure you choose to invest your time in the biggest things first. You know, the ones that give you true fulfillment. Of course, we all have to do our “gravel” or “sand” things too, but it’s up to us to create healthy proportions between them and the large stones. Decide what’s the healthiest for you, what would serve you the best, and invest yourself accordingly.
Be well.
Here is an anecdote that drastically changed my way of looking at time and energy management. I learned it when taking a Franklin Covey time management course.
A professor brought a large empty glass jar to a lecture on time management and asked his class: “Is this jar full or empty?” The students responded: “It’s empty”. Then the professor filled it with large, fist-size stones. “Now is it full or empty?” he asked. The students responded: “It’s full”. Then he poured gravel into the jar and the gravel filled the spaces between the large stones. “And now, is it full or empty?” he asked. Some of the students said it was full; some got the idea and said that he could still pour sand to fill the spaces between the gravel. The professor did just that. He repeated his question. Students suggested he could still fill it up more with water. “Right”, he said, and he poured water into the jar. Now everyone agreed that the jar was finally full and there was no unused space left. “What’s the moral of this story?” the professor asked. “The moral is that you can always squeeze more into your day even though you think your schedule is already full”, the students volunteered. “No”, said the professor, the moral of this story is that if you don’t put your largest stones into the jar first, you won’t be able to squeeze them in later. If you don’t make time to do the things that really matter to you on every day basis, the smaller and less important stuff will surely take over your day”.
So are you putting your large stones into your jar first or are you busing yourself with “other things” and then you don’t have time and energy to do what really matters?
Today, I invite you to ask yourself what the big and important stones in your life are. What is the gravel and sand for you? And what is just water? When you schedule your week, your day, I invite you to make sure you choose to invest your time in the biggest things first. You know, the ones that give you true fulfillment. Of course, we all have to do our “gravel” or “sand” things too, but it’s up to us to create healthy proportions between them and the large stones. Decide what’s the healthiest for you, what would serve you the best, and invest yourself accordingly.
Be well.
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