Most Important Things (MITs)….

You might all have read the popular story that goes like this….

A Professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the Professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The Professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The Professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the space between the grains of sand.

Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the Most important things of your life–depending on your life’s purpose – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles and the sand represent the “small stuff” that can fill space but essentially do not add meaning to the Life….

The Moral of the story is to Focus on the Most Important Things (MITs)…a vital few Big ticket items / people in our life eliminating the trivial many. This is very relevant when it comes to managing the Time.

Here is the above story  applied to Time Management:

1)    Identify the golf balls for the Week: At the beginning of the week, on a Sunday or the Monday identify 5-6 Most Important Things that you want to accomplish through the week

2)    Schedule : Now schedule the 5-6 MITs across the week, say 1-2 activities per day

3)    Each day… : Each morning identify the MITs and schedule them as the first activity…plan rest of the tasks around this MIT (Pebbles and Sand)…even if you miss them who cares !

4)    Complete them…: The key is to key complete the MITs...for the day….no matter what…

5)      Look back : At end of the week, review the completed MITs….if you missed completing them, analyze on what the lacunae is ! ….It means you surely are filling the pebbles and sand in the Life jar before putting in the golf balls ….