An expert in time management was once addressing a class of business-school students. To make his point, he used a demonstration which the students will never forget.

As he stood there in front of all these ambitious people, he said, "Let's take a test."

He put a three-gallon jar with a large opening on top on the table in front of him.

Then he took approximately ten fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them inside the jar, one by one.

When the jar was full and wouldn't hold more rocks, he asked, "Is the jar full?"

The entire class answered, "Yes."

"Oh yeah?" he said. He reached under the table for a bucket of gravel. He then poured some of the gravel into the jar and shook it so that the gravel settled into the empty spaces between the rocks.

Then he asked the class again, "Is the jar full?"

This time the students had some idea of where he was going, so one of them answered, "probably not."

"Good!" said the expert. He reached for a bucket of sand, poured the sand into the jar so that it filled all the empty spaces between the rocks and the gravel.

Again he asked, "Is the jar full?"

"No!" shouted the students.

"Good!" he repeated.

Finally, he took a pitcher of water and poured into the jar until it was completely full. Then, looking at the class, he asked them what they thought was the lesson of his demonstration.

One student raised her hand and said, "The lesson is that, no matter how busy your schedule, you can always fit in an extra task as long as you really make an effort."

"No," said the expert. "That's not what this is about. The truth which this teaches us is this: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never fit them in.

"What are the big rocks in your life? Your children. Your loved ones. Your education. Your dreams. A worthy cause. To teach and guide others. To have fun. Time for yourself. Your health. Your spouse.

"Remember to place your big rocks in the jar first, or you'll never have space for them at all. If you allow too much space for the trivial things (gravel, sand, water), your life will be full of things that don't actually matter to you and you'll never have time for the important things in your life.

"So, tonight or tomorrow morning, when you think of this little test, ask yourself this question:

'What are the big rocks in my life?'

"Then place them first into your jar."