Do you make time for what’s most important in your life? The best tip I ever heard for setting priorities was a technique taught in a Franklin Covey time management seminar I attended. This is included as one of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits, “Put First Things First”, using an object lesson involving rocks.
A college professor takes a box of rocks from behind his counter and proceeds to place them into a jar in front of his students. When the jar is full, he asks if there’s room for more. The students say no, because the jar is full. He pulls a box of smaller rocks from behind the counter and proceeds to add them into the jar. Each smaller rock fits into the cracks around the big rocks in the jar. He repeats this question and demonstration pattern with gravel, sand and water until the jar is completely full. What’s the moral of the story? he asks. “You can always fit more,” one student suggests. “No, you have to put the BIG ROCKS in first.” There won’t be room for your priorities if you fill your schedule with little things first.
I heard this lesson and concept nearly 15 years ago but still use it and have found tremendous value in it.
Application
Here’s a way you can try applying this to your own schedule:
- Step 1 – identify the important roles in your life. For me, that’s husband, father, pastor, employee, manager, mentor, etc. Note that some of these are closely tied together, but I separate them when I’m trying to identify priorities. I prefer to define each unique role in which a person sees me. For me that means, being a pastor (to the congregation I serve) and manager (to the staff I oversee) are distinct.
- Step 2 – within each role, on a weekly basis, identify the most important thing you should do. What would help you excel in that role for the coming week?
- Step 3 – once you identify it, block time in your schedule to do that thing for each role. As husband, that may mean date night, or it may mean being home in time for dinner.
- Step 4 – keep to the schedule that was built around your priorities!
Downloadable Resources
I developed worksheets to guide you through Step 1 and Step 2 which you can download here: