One day an expert on time management was speaking to a group of business students. To drive home a point, this expert used an illustration I'm sure 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 more rocks would fit inside, he asked"Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." The he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. The 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 smiled and 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. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is the 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. Then he looked up yo the class and asked, "What is the point of illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, " The point is, no matter how full your scheduled is, if you try really heard, you can always fit more things into it!" "No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is that if we don't put the big rocks in first, we'll never get in at all."
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