HackMake

The Big Rocks

Brett McKay, in a new series on Art of Manliness called Heading Out on Your Own, uses an illustration from Stephen Covey’s book First Things First. Covey asks, “How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” After fitting as many big rocks in as he can, he asks, “Is the jar full?” His demonstration goes on where he fills the gaps with gravel, then sand, then water, until the jar is truly full.

Brett’s take on this:

Most young men fill their schedules with the gravel, sand, and water of life first. Sure, they look and feel busy, but all they ever work on are the small tasks that are likely inconsequential in the long run. You’ll find these sorts of gents wistfully lamenting that they never have time for the things that are truly important in life: the Big Rocks.

The goal of the weekly plan that Brett is suggesting you do is to figure out what the big rocks are and make those the things that get done first. Then fill your time with everything else.