BALANCING YOUR LIFE AND YOUR PRACTICE
PART 1: RocKs, GRAVEL AND SAND
To help me prepare for a presentation entitled “Walking the Line – Balancing Home and Career Lives” for the National Association of Legal Secretary’s Annual Convention, my girlfriend faxed me the following parable from the Internet. It is a useful big-picture introduction to time management and life balance. Micro tips for time management and balance will follow in a subsequent column. Please read and enjoy.
One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of law students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.”
He then pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the podium in front of him. Next 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.” The expert replied, “Really?”
He reached under the podium and pulled out a small bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?”
By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them answered. “Good!” the expert replied.
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He reached under the podium again and brought out a bucket of sand. He started pouring the sand in the jar and it went into all of 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 the speaker grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?” One eager beaver raised her 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,” he 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? Your career? Your children? Your loved ones? Your education? Your dreams? A worthy cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Doing activities that you love? Time for yourself? Your health? Your
significant other? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel, the sand), then you’ll fill your life with little things you worry about that don’t really matter and you’ll never have the quality time you need to spend on the big important stuff (the big rocks).
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.