Stephen Covey, the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, brings an analogy to explain priorities.
The Jar of Life
Imagine you have an empty jar. This jar represents the time you have in a day, a week, or even a lifetime. Your goal is to fill it wisely.
You can fill it with big rocks, pebbles, and sand.
- The Big Rocks – These represent your most important priorities: your career, health, relationships, and personal growth.
- The Pebbles – These are important but not as crucial as the big rocks. They include tasks like lesser work responsibilities, hobbies, and social activities.
- The Sand – The smallest elements represent minor tasks, distractions, and time-wasters: emails, social media, and unimportant errands. These can easily fill up your jar if you’re not careful.
If you start by filling the jar with sand, there won’t be any room for the rocks and pebbles. However, if you place the rocks first, followed by the pebbles, and then pour in the sand, everything fits perfectly. (You can try this at home. It works.)
Why do we focus on the “sand”?
Well, the sand can be hard to turn away from. Some of the sand can seem more entertaining, relaxing, or non-stressful. Some of it just shouts really loudly and grabs our attention. Focusing on the sand makes us busy, and gives us the illusion of being productive.
How to focus on the big rocks
First, it’s important to have clarity. Start a new page in your bullet journal and make a list of your “big rocks.” What is really important to you? What are your most critical responsibilities?
The next time you’re scheduling your month/week/day, take a look at your list of big rocks, and be sure to carve out time for those things. After you’ve worked out when you’re going to take care of the important things, delegate or schedule your pebbles and sand.
I think the key to this is to look at the list of big rocks once in a while. Deep down, we know what’s important, but in the hustle and bustle of life, we can use reminders.