Strategic Time Management - The Big Rocks

Once I began a seminar for junior faculty with a concrete illustration of a key time management strategy. From behind my podium, I pulled out a large glass jar and filled it with fist-sized rocks. When no more rocks would fit, I asked the class whether the jar was full.

“Yes,” they said.

I then took out a pail of pea-sized chunks of gravel from behind the podium and shook them into the glass jar so that they filled the spaces between the rocks.
“Is the jar full?” I asked again.

“Probably not,” said the group in unison. (After all, they were clever people with doctoral degrees.)

I took another pail out from behind the podium and this time poured sand into the glass jar, shaking the jar so the sand sifted down into the pockets between gravel and rocks.
“Is the jar full?” I asked once more.

“No!” they said with certainty.
Nodding at their response, I took a final pail out from behind the podium and poured water into the jar of sand, gravel and rocks.

“There,” I said, stepping back and wiping off my hands. “What point do you think I’m making with this demonstration?”

One erudite associate professor spoke up: “You’re telling us that no matter how busy we are we can always squeeze a bit more into our schedule.”

“No,” I replied. “The lesson is:
PUT IN THE BIG ROCKS FIRST.”

O.K., I confess: I haven’t really carted rocks into classrooms. This is my adaptation of an e-mail sent to me a decade ago by a grad student in one of my dissertation skills workshops. Later, I read a version of the same anecdote in Stephen Covey’s book “First Things First”. Many time management experts tell the story because it is such great advice: set your priorities consciously so that the details don’t swallow all your time.

What are your big rocks? What do you care about in life? What are your top priorities? I assume that you want to get tenure, or finish your dissertation, or submit that big grant, or hand in your thesis proposal, or have your article accepted at a top journal.

But what else do you want? What goals do you have in connection with your family, your friends and your life partner? If you don’t currently have a romantic partner, are you making the time to meet new people? Is optimal fitness important to you? What about spirituality, community service, politics or finding new ways to make a contribution to society? What about having fun, seeing the world and enjoying new adventures? Take a minute right now to jot down what you consider the big rocks in your life.

After you finish writing down the five, six or ten areas that are a top priority for you, think about how much time you are spending in each area. Is your life balanced, or have academic pressures taken over your time? Are you willing to make a commitment, right now, to putting those big rocks in the glass jar of your life?

Best wishes for a balanced and enjoyable week,

© 2005 Mary McKinney, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the Successful Academic Newsletter, in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including my live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.
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