Deborah S. Podwika, M.A.
Kankakee Community College
Humanities and Social Science Division 
Psychology Department - P.O. Box 888, River Road
Kankakee, IL 60901-0888 

Office: L342
Office: 815.933.0283
Fax:    815.933.0217
Email: [email protected]
Web:http://www.geocities.com/debbiepodwika/

Created: May 3, 1996 
Format: Netscape 4.7
Revised: July 17, 2002
The Jar
A while back, I was reading about an expert on the subject of time 
management. One day this expert was speaking to a group of business
students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students 
will never forget.

As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he 
said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide - 
mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced
about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time,
into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he 
asked,

"Is this jar full?"

Everyone in the class said, "Yes."

Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket
of gravel.

Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel 
to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he 
asked the group once more, 

"Is the jar full?"

By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered.

"Good!" he replied.

He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started 
dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks 
and the gravel.

Once more he asked the question, 

"Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a 
pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the 
brim.

He looked up at the class and asked, 

"What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how 
full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some 
more things into it!"

"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this 
illustration teaches us is: 

If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."

What are the 'big rocks' in your life?

Time with God ?

A project that YOU want to accomplish?

Time with your loved ones?

Your faith, your education, your finances?

A cause?

Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. 

So, tonight or in the morning when you are reflecting on this short story, 
ask yourself this question: 

What are the 'big rocks' in my life?

Then, put those in your jar first.
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