Key takeaways
Your “big rocks” are your true priorities – the non-negotiables that shape your life, success, and fulfilment.
If you don’t schedule your big rocks first, they simply won’t happen – your time will get consumed by less important tasks.
Most people aren’t short of time, they’re misallocating it – focusing on urgent but low-value activities instead of what really matters.
Busyness is not productivity – you can be active all day and still neglect the things that actually move your life forward.
You only have one “jar” – limited time, energy, and resources, so prioritisation isn’t optional, it’s essential.
Big rocks differ for everyone – what matters is aligning your priorities with your values, not someone else’s expectations.
Most people let other people’s priorities fill their schedule – distractions and demands crowd out meaningful progress.
Structuring your life intentionally – big rocks first, then pebbles, then sand – ensures what matters most actually gets done.
Clarity comes from asking better questions – what are your non-negotiables, your highest-value activities, and what truly deserves your time?
What are the big rocks in your life?
Put simply, your big rocks are your priorities.
They are the tasks, projects or goals you absolutely must accomplish.
If you’re like most people you’re likely to be very busy, but how productive are you?
While successful people always find a way to keep a focus on what’s most important, the average person tends to run into one of three problems:
- They have too many priorities. Think about it, if you have 30 priorities that are important things to do, if everything is important to you, you really have no priorities - do you?
- They don’t or can’t differentiate the truly important priorities in their lives.
- For any number of reasons, they let other less-important things get in the way of focusing on what really matters.
Setting priorities (your big rocks) can be hard
We all have different priorities, but before we get into how to organise them let me tell you the big rocks story.
It goes like this:
One day a teacher was speaking to a group of students.
She pulled out an large jar and set it on a table.
Then she produced about a dozen big rocks and placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, she asked, “Is this jar full?”
Everyone said, “Yes.”
“Really?” she asked. “Let’s see.”
She took out some gravel and dumped them in. She shook the jar, causing the pieces to fall into the spaces between the big rocks.
She asked the students again, “Is the jar full?”
Her class was catching on. “Probably not,” one of them answered.
“Very good!” she replied.
She brought out a bucket of sand and dumped the sand in and it went into all the spaces between the rocks and the gravel.
Then she asked, “Is this jar full?”
“No!” the class shouted.
“Excellent!” she replied.
Then she grabbed a jug of water and poured it in until the jar was filled to the brim.
The teacher looked intently back at the students and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”
One student said, “You can always fit more things into your life if you really work at it.”
The teacher said “That’s true, but it’s not the point of this illustration.”
“This demonstration teaches us that if you don't put in the big rocks first, you'll never get them into the jar at all.
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“What are the big rocks in your life?
Time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, your career, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others?"
She concluded by repeating the important message: "Remember to put these big rocks in first, or you'll never get them in at all."
So what does this mean for you?
Big Rocks are things like your bucket list items, your non-negotiable goals, your dreams, your true desires, things you can do to make your business more successful, things that fulfil you, and things you can do to make you healthier and happier.
Pebbles are the things you love to do or need to do, but they aren’t crucial to your happiness, success, or fulfilment. (Projects around your house, watching your football team, mah-jong lessons, etc.)
Sand is your mundane day-to-day tasks. (Checking emails, walking the dog, paying bills, grocery shopping, etc.
The jar is your life, your time, your energy, your budget, your resources, etc.
By the way…You only get one jar.
These are all different for everyone
One person’s big rock may be another person’s sand.
So make sure you have these Big Rocks in your calendar or your To Do list as not only urgent, but important items, otherwise you will get sidetracked.
Most people get distracted by other people’s priorities, things that seem urgent but are not necessarily important.
In big rock terms they fill the jars with lots of pebbles and sand but no big rocks. None at all.
As I said... you only get one jar.
You don’t have unlimited time, endless money, untold resources or energy to do whatever you want to do and fit in everything you would like to fit into your jar.
So say yes to your big rocks first.
Put your big rocks into your jar first, then your pebbles and then your sand.
This way you have prioritised your big rocks and you will complete those before you move onto what may seem important urgent but unless important tasks.
Here’s how I put this concept into action . . .
- I made a list of my big rocks (6 of them), my pebbles (10 of these) and my sand.
- I asked myself questions like, ‘What’s on my bucket list?’, ‘What are my non-negotiables in life?’, ‘What is the highest and best use of my time in my business?’.
- I put the big rocks in my calendar first, before someone else grabbed the time. Then I started filling in the time with pebbles and sand.
So my holidays times away with Pam for the next year are blocked out.
The times I have set aside each week to visit my children and grandchildren are blocked out on my calendar and can’t be moved.
Morning walks along the beach with ur dog Lincoln are blocked out – there’s no room to do anything else at that time of the day.
And my high and business tasks like writing and recording my podcast are locked into my calendar.
I’ve left some space for incoming or last minute pebbles and sand.
I’ve learned that what gets scheduled gets done. What doesn’t get scheduled doesn’t get done. - I schedule my business Big Rocks in the morning.
I know when I’m most efficient, and that’s first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon.
I know I’m not as efficient or creative in the middle of the day.
But we are all different, aren’t we?
I’ve also learned the principle of getting the important tasks done first thing in the morning.
Then I’ve got them done because things always pop up during the day. - I’ve learned to ask myself, "Is this a big rock?"
When I need to decide how best to spend my time, energy or money, I ask myself this important question – “Is this a Big Rock?”
If it is, I make sure I find time to put it in the jar.
This concept is so simple and yet so profound.
I learned it from Steven Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People who taught me difference between being busy and being productive.
It’s not about getting more stuff done.
It’s about getting your most important things done.
So my question to you is…
What are your big rocks in your life, your career, your relationships, your wealth, your health?
For each of these big rocks, are they in place?
Are you putting them in your jar first?
If not, are you working to get them in place?
Or have you neglected them?
If you don’t consciously work on your big rocks, you are never going to get to them.
Sure the markets are moving on, but not all properties are going to increase in value. Now, more than ever, correct property selection will be critical.
