Regarding productivity coaching, I just read a wonderful post by Michael Hyatt entitled “Creating An Annual Time Block” in which relates a story told by Stephen Covey about attending a seminar in which the facilitator put a wide mouth jar on the table and started filling it with big rocks.
Since so many business owners and professionals struggle with this concept, I thought it would be worth showcasing the post below. But for those who want the digest version, it basically makes the point that if we don’t set aside time for the “big rocks”, aka our most important priorities, that there will be no time left over to give to them. And, he gives you a great tool to manage it all.
Michael writes:
“Stephen Covey tells the story in First Things First of attending a seminar, in which the instructor pulled out a wide-mouth gallon jar. He sat it on the table next to some fist-sized rocks.
“How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” he asked.
The students made various guesses. The instructor then proceeded to fill the jar with the rocks. It looked like it was full. He asked the class, “Is this jar full?” Everyone looked at the jar and agreed that it was indeed full.
He then reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He then dumped the gravel into the jar. The gravel went in between all the little places left by the big rocks.
Then he grinned and once more asked, “Is the jar full?” By this time, the class was on to him. “Probably not,” several of the students said.
“Good!” he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He poured it into the jar. It went into all the spaces left by the big rocks and the gravel. Again, he asked the class, “Is this jar full?”
“No,” the class shouted.
He said, “Good!” He then grabbed a pitcher of water and poured almost a quart of water into the jar. Then he said, “What’s the point?”
Someone said, “If you really work at it, you can always squeeze more stuff into your life.”
“No,” the instructor responded. “That’s not the point. The point is this: if you hadn’t put these big rocks in first, would you ever have gotten any of them in?”
I would make an additional point. The big rocks are a metaphor for the important stuff. If you don’t make room for the important stuff, it will be overwhelmed by the less important stuff…” Read the entire post here.
Are you making time for your “big rocks”?
Susan Martin, time management coaching.
