Setting Priorities for Your Day

A Zen Master, desirous of teaching his class about prioritizing, asked a group of college students to fill a large glass container with the materials that were on the ground surrounding them. Collectively, they filled the container to the brim with carefully selected large rocks. He asked, "Is this container full?" They eagerly responded "YES!" feeling quite pleased with themselves for having quickly and effectively completed their assignment.

The Zen Master then took several handfuls of smaller stones and dropped them into the container. The forces of gravity drew the rocks into the spaces left inside the glass jar. The students watched in silence, a little embarrassed that they didn't see what was right in front of their eyes.

Zen Master asked: "Is the container now full?Hesitantly, the students begrudgingly had to answer "Yes"." Then, the Zen Master bent down, retrieved a handful of sand, and slowly let it fall from his hands into the jar. The sand gracefully filled in the remaining gaps between the large rocks and small stones. "Is the container now filled?he asked of the novices who really were interested in learning. How could the answer be anything but yes? And this time they were right.

What was the main lesson behind the example the Zen Master used to teach his novices? Filling this container is not unlike filling the 24 hours in your day. Do you start with the large rocks or the sand?

The large rocks represent major activities that are vital. Once those are in place, it is easy to see where we can fill in our time with lesser yet still important tasks. And finally, we can fill in the five-ten minute segments between each of the above categories with the sand, the tasks that may be infinitesimal, yet still require our undivided attention.

What might have happened if the Zen Master told his novices to stuff the container with sand? The smaller rocks would have used up all the space and there wouldn't have been room for the bigger rocks (areas of focus.)

How many of you look at your time management in this same way? Prior to taking on the big tasks you've got to do, you think you should eliminate the little things that have a tendency to cluster and annoy you. Pretty soon your day is over and you feel exhausted but not accomplished.

Part of the Zen masters lesson pertains to your spirit. Do you focus your spirit on things that are truly important to you or allow yourself to be pulled down by the sand? If you begin by focusing on what's vital to you, you'll have room for the rest. The opposite is equally true.

Which meaning of this story applies most to you—do you want to fill up the 24 hours in your day or do you want to fill up your soul? Either way, please take time this week filling yourself with prioritized large rocks and allowing the sand to lay as it will. Enjoy your discoveries and

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