Time Management

A little homespun philosophy on the subject of "Time Management".

Once upon a time, an old professor from one of the more notable colleges of public administration was asked to give a talk on the subject of "Time Management" as part of a course attended by a group of 15 managers, all from major American corporations. As the course represented one of the five parts of a conference, the professor only had one hour available in which to impart his knowledge on this subject.

The old professor stood up in front of this elite group of managers, who were ready to write down every single detail of this expert's lecture. He looked at them all carefully, one after the other and then said : "We are going to conduct an experiment".

He reached under the table that separated him from the course participants and picked up an enormous glass, which he placed on the table. Then he took a dozen stones, each about the size of a tennis ball, and started placing them one after the other in the glass. Once the glass was full, and it was impossible to add even one more stone, the old professor looked at his audience and asked : "Is this glass full?" They all answered : "Yes!" he waited a few seconds and then added : "Really?"

He bent down agin, reached under the table, and this time produced a container full of fine gravel. He carefully poured the gravel over the stones, gently shaking the glass as he did so. The gravel trickled down between the stones... to the bottom of the glass.

The old professor looked at his audience again, and asked once again : "Is this glass full?" This time his students saw through his little game and one of them said : "Most probably not!"

"Good!" answered the old professor. He bent down once again and this time brought forth a small bucket of sand. He poured the sand carefully into the glass, and it filled the gaps between the stones and the gravel. Then he asked the same question again : "Is the glass full?"

This time, without hesitation and as if with one voice, the astounded participants all ansewered : "No!"

"Good!" said the professor again and, as was only to be expected, took a jug of water with which he filled the glass to the brim. He then looked at the group and asked : "What great truth does this experiment prove?"

One participant, having thought carefully about the title of the lecture, answered : "It proves that, if even one thinks one's appointments diary is full, one can always add more appointments and urgent matters if one really wants to."

"NO!" said the old professor. "That is not it. The great truth that this experiment demonstrates to us is as follows : if you don't put the big stones into the glass first, you will never get the little ones in!" A huge silence suddenly descended on them all. Everyone realised the great truth of this statement. the old professor then asked :
"WHAT ARE THE BIG STONES IN YOUR LIFE?
Health
Family
Friends
Making dreams come true
Doing what you really want to do
Learning
Serving a cause
Relaxing
Taking time
or...
Something totally different.

What one has to note is how important these big stones are in our lives. If you don't put them first in your lives, you run the risk of making life a failure. If you give priority to the unimportant things - the gravel - you will fill your life with trivia, and you will be short of the valuable time you need for devoting yourselves to the most important elements in your lives."

So don't forget to ask yourselves the question : "Which are the BIG STONES in your lives?

Then, YOU must deliberately place them first and foremost in your glass (your life)." With a friendly wave of his hand, the old professor took leave of the audience and slowly left the room...

Source : EMA NOVO 2/01, written by Philippe Eyer from EMA Partners Switzerland. 2001

Up