Put the big rocks in first

“An inch of time is worth an inch of gold; yet you can’t buy an inch of time at an inch of gold.”
Chinese Proverb

Once, I attended a seminar where the instructor was lecturing on time. At one point, he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” He reached under the table and pulled out a wide-mouthed gallon jar. He set it on the table next to a platter with some fist-sized rocks on it.

“How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” he asked.

After we made our guess, he said, “Okay. Let’s find out.” He set one rock in the jar . . . then another . . . then another.  I don’t remember how many he got in, but  the jar was full. Then he asked, “Is this jar full?” 

Everyone looked at the rocks and said, “Yes.”

The Instructor said , “Ahhh”. He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar and the gravel went in all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Thereafter he grinned and asked once more, “Is the jar full?”

By this time the participants guessed the answer from past experience; “Probably not,” we said. 

“Good!” he replied.  Then He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand and started dumping the sand in the Jar. It went into all of the little spaces left by the rocks and the gravel.

Once more he looked and asked, “Is this jar full?” 

“No!” we roared.

He said, “Good!” and he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in. He got something like a quart of water in that jar.

” Well, what’s the point?” He asked us.

Somebody said, “Well, there are gaps, and if you work really hard you can always fit some more things into your life.”

“No,” he said, “that’s not really the point.

The point is this: Put the big rocks in FIRST…

The Instructor continued, “Now, I want you to recognize that this jar is your life.

The fist-sized rocks are the important things – your physical and mental health, your family, your life partner and children  – anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, it will make the biggest impact on your life and you would be nearly destroyed.

The gravels are the other things in life that matter but lesser than the above ones. The gravels represent things like your career, job, house, friends, social connections or car. The sand is everything else, the other “small stuff” in life.

“If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks.” That’s why I said, the point is – “Put the Big Rocks in First”. 

He continued, ” I hope now you understand, the same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the lesser important small stuff and materialistic things, you will never have space for the things that are truly most important. Pay attention to the things that are Important in your life and spend time on the Important.”