Simplify Your Commitments

“Don’t prioritize your schedule. Schedule your priorities.” - Stephen Covey

There’s a story about a professor who stood in front of his class with a large jar. He filled it with big rocks and asked if the jar was full. The class said yes. Then he poured in pebbles, which filled the spaces between the rocks. “Full now?”, he asked. The students agreed. Then he added sand, which filled every last gap. The jar looked packed.

Then he grabbed a glass of water and poured it in. The water seeped into every crack and crevice, making room where it seemed impossible.

The jar is your life. The big rocks are what matter most. Things like health, family, and passions.

The pebbles are important but less critical. The sand is all the little things we let take up space. And the water? That’s the unexpected. The stuff you can’t plan for.

If you don’t put the big rocks in first, they’ll never fit.

Random meetings, obligations, busywork, scrolling, binging, gossiping, etc will fill up your day if you allow it. By the time you realize it, there is no room left for the important things.

Moral of the story, if you let the jar of your life fill up with water and sand first, you’ll never be able to fit anything else in it. So, put the rocks in first.

What are your rocks for tomorrow?

Yours in Simplicity,

-Jimmy

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