One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and， to drive home a point， used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers he said， “Okay， time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one-gallon， wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He then produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them， one at a time， into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside， he asked， “Is the jar full？” Everyone in the class said， “Yes.”

He replied， “Really？”

He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel， then dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks.

He asked the group once more， “Is the jar full？”

By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not，” one of them answered.

“Good！” he replied.

He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question， “Is the jar full？”

He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question， “Is the jar full？”

“No！” the class shouted.

Once again he said， “Good！”

Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked， “What is the point of this illustration？” One eager student raised her hand and said， “The point is， no matter how full your schedule is， if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in！”

“Good answer， but no，” the speaker replied， “that’s not my point. The truth this illustration teaches us is： If you don’t put the big rocks in first， you’ll never get them in at all. What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life？ In my life they are my children， my wife， my loved ones， my education， my dreams， charities and worthy causes， teaching or mentoring others， doing things that I love， time for myself， my health and so on. Remember to put these ‘big rocks’ in first or you’ll never get them in at all.”

If you sweat over the little stuff then you’ll fill your life with little things to worry about that don’t really matter， and you’ll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big， important stuff （the big rocks）.

一天，一名時(shí)間管理專家在對(duì)一群學(xué)習(xí)商業(yè)的學(xué)生講話時(shí)，為了論證一個(gè)論點(diǎn)，他用了一種令學(xué)生們永遠(yuǎn)難忘的表述方式。站在這群出類(lèi)拔萃的學(xué)生面前，他說(shuō)：“來(lái)，做個(gè)小測(cè)試?！彼贸鲆粋€(gè)一加侖的有金屬螺蓋的廣口玻璃瓶，放在他面前的桌子上。接著他拿出一小堆拳頭大小的石塊，小心翼翼、一塊一塊地放進(jìn)瓶子里。等石塊裝滿到瓶口，再也塞不下時(shí)，他問(wèn)：“瓶子滿了嗎？”大家都說(shuō)：“滿了?！?/p>

他問(wèn)：“真的滿了嗎？”

他伸手到桌下提出一桶碎石，將碎石倒進(jìn)瓶子里，搖晃瓶子讓碎石自己漏進(jìn)大石塊的間隙里去。

他又問(wèn)學(xué)生：“瓶子裝滿了嗎？”

這時(shí)學(xué)生們領(lǐng)悟過(guò)來(lái)了?！翱赡苓€沒(méi)滿吧?！币粋€(gè)學(xué)生回答說(shuō)。

“好！”他說(shuō)道。

他伸手從桌底下拎出了一桶沙，把沙往瓶子里倒，沙子塞滿了石塊與碎石的縫隙，他又一次問(wèn)了那個(gè)問(wèn)題：“瓶子滿了嗎？”

“沒(méi)滿！”全班學(xué)生大聲回答。

再一次，他說(shuō)道：“好！”

然后他又拿出一大罐水往瓶子里倒，一直倒到水升到瓶口高。他看著學(xué)生們問(wèn)：“這個(gè)演示說(shuō)明了什么？”一個(gè)學(xué)生急忙舉手說(shuō)：“說(shuō)明了：不管時(shí)間安排得多緊，如果你真的努力嘗試，總是可以見(jiàn)縫插針地做更多的事情。”

“回答得好，不過(guò)，”專家說(shuō)，“這不是我想說(shuō)的。這個(gè)例子告訴我們一個(gè)事實(shí)：如果你不是先放大石塊，以后它們就永遠(yuǎn)擺不進(jìn)去。你生活中的‘大石塊’是什么呢？在我的生活中，他們是我的孩子、妻子、所愛(ài)的人、學(xué)習(xí)、夢(mèng)想、善行和有價(jià)值的事業(yè)、教導(dǎo)他人、做我喜歡做的事、留給自己的時(shí)間、健康，等等。要記住，必須先放‘大石塊’，否則它們永遠(yuǎn)放不進(jìn)去?！?/p>

如果你奔忙于瑣事，那么這些無(wú)關(guān)緊要的小事就會(huì)充斥你的生活，讓你成天操心，你就永遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)辦法騰出有效的時(shí)間來(lái)處理你的大事和要事（大石塊）。