Time Management – A little intriguing story

A professor stands in front of his students. He has a big bucket on the desk. He reaches below the desk and brings up a few boulders and puts them into the bucket, filling it up to the rim. He asks his students if the bucket is full. The students answer: “Yes.” Then he reaches below the desk and brings up a bag of pebbles and pours them into the bucket. He could empty the bag of pebbles into the bucket filling up the big gaps between the boulders. He asks his students if the bucket is full. Of course, the students learnt quickly and suggest that one could still pour sand into the bucket. And sure enough the professor produces a bag of sand, pours it into the bucket filling the gaps between the pebbles. Before asking the same question if the bucket is full, a smart student suggests that one could still fill the bucket further with some water. And sure enough the professor has a jug of water ready and pours it into the bucket, asking again if the bucket is now full. The students finally agreed, yes, the bucket is now full.

The professor asks: “Relate this to time management. What is the learning point?

One student answers: “If we really think hard we can always squeeze in a bit more.”

The professor answers: “Assume I fill the bucket in reverse order first with water, then sand, then the pebbles. Could I, at the end of the process, still fill in the boulders? The answer is ‘No’. The boulders must be put in first. The same is true for time management. You need to allocate time for your most important jobs (boulders) first. If you don’t provide time for those right at the beginning of your planning there won’t be enough time left to finish them.”
What are your big jobs? The tasks that are key to your success? Plan for those first.