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- The Big Rock Principle
OK, I’ve got a serious case of the Mondays and a lot on the agenda today so this one will be short…
But powerful!
If…you put it into action.
If you're anything like me, your to do list gets longer and longer even after you cross things off!
I think that's the life of a leader, right?
But something my mom taught me when I was a kid has helped me get past the tyranny of the urgent and the never-ending to do list. She called it the “big rock” principle.
Here it is…
Imagine an empty jar sitting on a desk.
And also on the desk is a bucket of sand and a bucket of rocks.
The empty jar represents your time.
The rocks represent important or essential tasks.
The sand represents everything else.
If you fill the jar with sand you can’t get any rocks in.
But if you put the rocks in first you can then pour sand over the top and get it in the jar.
The lesson?
Put the rocks in FIRST.
When you manage your time (your hours, days, weeks, months, years, and so on) you should place the essential tasks on your calendar first. Then schedule the rest.
Big rocks go in the jar first.
Got it?
It’s helped me!
Another quick thought.
Time Blocking.
This is a variation on the principle.
Instead of mapping out every hour of the day…
Which is time consuming in and of itself and also boring/frustrating…
Just “block” out 2 or 3 sections of your day with the most important items on your to-list.
For example:
Monday AM: 8am-11am (Prayer, reading, writing)
Monday PM 1pm-5pm (Meetings)
Tuesday AM: 8am-11am (writing book)
Tuesday PM: 1pm-5pm (sermon prep)
Nothing earth shattering.
The idea is to simplify time management into big blocks so your mind can relax and focus on the major tasks.
Of course, in 3 or 4 hour blocks of time you’ll get interrupted and things will come up.
But the simple discipline of “blocking” your time into chunks like I show above will help you make progress on your major initiates and endeavors without going crazy mapping out every second of the day!
Hope that helps…
Just a quick heads up…
Tomorrow I have a great post coming out for premium subscribers called “What I Learned From 7 Days In Alaska” - it’s got several game-changing insights about how to effectively rest, recuperate, and be your absolute BEST as a leader. You don’t want to miss it.
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Talk soon,
Pastor Jake