Learning to zone your time can help you prioritize the things that are most important to you
There’s rarely enough time in the day to do everything we want to. So how do we zone our time to reflect our priorities? We discuss strategies to sort out what we actually value, as well as experiments to build our schedules around these values.
One way to think about putting first things first – the things that really matter to you in this season of life– is a concept popularized by Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits for Highly Effective People and First Things First, is “putting the big rocks first.” He illustrates it with this story:
Imagine a glass jar that represents your time. Next to the jar, you have an assortment of items:
- Big rocks – which represent your top priorities
- Small pebbles – your day-to-day responsibilities and shorter term goals
- Sand – minor tasks that may be urgent but not important
- A glass of water – unimportant things that take up time but distract from your real priorities
If you fill the jar with big rocks first, you can fill in the gaps around them with pebbles, sand and water. But if you start with the other items and then try to fit the big rocks, you won’t have enough space. The lesson is that it’s important to put the big rocks first.
Get In Touch
How do you zone your time, and what are you experimenting with? Tell us at podcast@semitogether.com or send us a voice memo.
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Resources
Big Rocks & Little Rocks priority setting (Stephen Covey video)
Previous episodes:
Ep. 86: What Makes You Feel Alive?
Ep 81: What Makes a Good Life?