A New Restaurant

In his book First Things First, Stephen Covey tells about a trainer talking to his class about time management.  As an illustration, he took a jar and put some large rocks in it.  He then asked the class if the jar was full.  They all answered that yes, the jar was full.  The instructor then took some gravel and proceeded to pour it into the jar.  Next he poured sand in around the gravel, and finally finished filling the jar with water.

When asked what it all proved, someone in the class observed that there is always room for more.  The trainer told them that what it really showed was that if you don’t put the big things in first they will never fit.

How about you?  Do you put the big things on your schedule first, or does your schedule fill up with all kinds of different small things, and you run out of time to do the things that are important?

Whether it’s handling necessary business functions, or taking time to renew your certification, or attend the monthly Chamber of Commerce meeting, or taking time for yourself, you need to make sure you schedule time for the things that need to get done.

That doesn’t mean you have to be inflexible with your schedule.  Sometimes things come up that you have to take care of, but if things are always coming up that pull you off oyur schedule, you may need to reexamine your priorities.  There are always distractions that call for your attention; phone calls, e-mail, a complaining employee, but you have to decide what’s important enough to pull you off task, and what can be dealt with later.

An open door policy is a great idea, but it does lead to constant interruptions.  You may want to consider a more limited open door policy.  You are always available for emergencies, but non emergency items need to be handled at specified times during the day.  The same with email.  If you are in your office working, turn the auto-update function off and only check your email when you have the time to deal with the distractions.

You have to decide what is important.  If you allow others to set your priorities, you’ll never get your own items handled.

Schedule your important items first.