Simplicity rocks.

If you’ve read books or gone to a seminar on time management, there is a good chance you’ve heard the story that the famous leadership guru Steven R. Covey tells in his book First Things First. It’s a great story about focusing on what matters the most in our lives and a great reminder for those wishing to simplify their lives. If you haven’t heard it or have forgotten it, here it is.

A time management seminar instructor is using a demonstration to make a very important point. He pulls out a large glass jar and places it on a table for all of the students to see. He then takes out some fist-sized rocks and plops them down into the jar. “Is the jar full?” he asks. Some of the class members yell “Yes!” He shakes his head and says “No, it’s not.” Then he takes a jar of pea-gravel and pours it in the jar until it reaches the top. The gravel has found a place in the spaces between the rocks. Again he asks “Now is the jar full?” Before getting an answer, he takes out some sand and pours that into the jar until it again reaches the top of the jar. This time when he asks “Now is the jar full?” the class shrugs their shoulders and some respond “probably not.” The instructor takes a pitcher of water and carefully pours it into the mixture of rock, gravel and sand until it filters through and rises to the top. This time when he asks “Is the jar full?” they answer “we think it is.” When he attempts to debrief the demonstration as to the lesson it teaches, one class member smiles and blurts out “it means that no matter how busy your life is, there is always room for more!” Although the comments was met with laughter from the class, they no doubt became more thoughtful as the facilitator points out the real lesson: “If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in later.”

How many times do you or I go through our day putting in gravel, sand and water and then have no time or energy left to put in what really matters? How many times have the “urgent, but not important” details, tasks and requests for our time taken up space and crowded out what really feeds our spirit and soul? We are bombarded by more opportunities than ever to waste the limited time we are given each day. Emails, phone calls, internet browsing, social networking, TV, and hundreds of other pulls at our time tempt us to spend time with something “less” and give up something “more.” How many dreams do we have that are still unrealized because we are “too busy” to pursue them?

Re-reading this story was a good reminder to me to really stay focused on the things are that really matter, and make sure they get my top priority. As Steven Covey says “It’s easy to say no, when there is a bigger ‘Yes!’ burning inside.” What is that bigger “yes” for you? How much time are you spending living that? Today, make a list of what those “big rocks” are for you, and then do a quick review of how you have spent your time the last few weeks. If you’re like me, you realize that there is some gravel, sand and water you need to clear out.