Is your jar full?

There’s a video floating around about a teacher teaching his students how to fill a jar.

At first, he fills the jar up to the brim with golf balls. Then he asks his students, “Is this jar full?”. His students reply, “Yes”.

Then he takes out some small rocks. He fills the golf-ball laden jar to the brim with the rocks. Again, he asks his students, “Is this jar full?” Again, his students reply, “Yes”.

Next he takes out some sand. He fills the jar to the brim with the sand. Again, he asks his students, “Is this jar full?” And yet again, his students reply, “Yes”.

Finally, he opens a bottle of water. He fills the jar as the water fits into all the tiny spaces left. Again, he asks his students, “Is this jar full?” And yet again, his students reply, “Yes”.

He then goes on to teach his students, that if you fill the jar with water first you can’t add all the other materials. Only if you focus on the big rocks first, will you be able to fit everything.

The jar is a beautiful allegory for how much time you have in your day. It is so easy to fritter away your time on the small things. Emails, Netflix, Instagram. But the real key is to focus on the “golf balls”. The key areas in your life: your health, your relationships, your sleep.

You can fit everything in. But the order that you do it in, matters. Focus on the big things. The small stuff can fit in through the cracks.

Is your jar really full?