Big Rocks First
I feel like the world’s worst organisational coach. I’m
often late. I often end my day wondering where the time went and panicking about
all that has rolled over onto my plate for tomorrow. I often fall into the trap
of believing that I can multitask, and then I end up getting a whole lot of
nothing done. And don’t even get me started on procrastination.
But I’m an optimist. And I’m committed to being a
lifelong learner. So I’m constantly striving to find ways to be more productive
and feel more organised. Why? Because I want to enjoy the little moments more –
not be so busy worrying about what the next
moment will bring, or what else I should
be doing.
And I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m not alone.
My desire to get a better handle on my time has lead me
along an interesting path (more about that another time), which culminated in
the creation of the Equilibrium Planner. I’m really proud of it, and I’m
excited about how it can potentially help those that have invested in it. It’s
far from perfect, and it probably won’t suit everyone’s needs. But if it leads
to even one person doing even one thing that sets their heart alight –
I will be delighted!
A key principle that the 2023 Planner was based on is that of “Big
Rocks First”. I first encountered this idea back in high school Life
Orientation class when the required reading was Sean Covey’s “7 Habits of
Highly Effective Teens”. The original quote by his Dad (Stephen Covey) is “If
the big rocks don’t go in first, they aren’t going to fit in later.” The
analogy is that if each of the things on your to do list are rocks, pebbles or sand
– their size corresponding to their level of priority – and the time that you
have available is a jar, then the only way to fit most of your tasks into the
jar is by putting the big rocks in first, trusting that the smaller pebbles and
sand etc, will fill the gaps afterwards.
I love the way Patrick Buggy explains it in his post and his illustration of it:
I am certain that if we work on figuring out what our
priorities are every day, and then tackling those first, we’ll start to feel
more productive. And we’ll be able to enjoy living in the moment more and more.
Who’s with me?!