The Glass Jar and Rocks of Time
Getting More Done, One Priority at a Time
There is a story about time management that uses a glass jar, rocks, stones, pebbles, sand, and water to illustrate how to prioritize your day. The glass jar represents time, and each item that goes into it represents an activity with a priority relative to its size. The general idea is to fill your glass jar first with rocks. These represent your highest priority projects and deadlines. Next, fill in the space between the rocks with smaller stones. These are next on your list of priority and get done only after your number one priority 'rocks' have been accomplished. Next, fill the space between the rocks and stones with pebbles, then sand, then water. Each new item added to the jar is of lower priority than the one added before.
How can you apply this to your writing career?
1. Identify your highest priorities
Before you can schedule your highest priorities, you must first identify them. Which activities are the most likely to move you towards your goal? What important deadlines are soon due? Which projects will be most immediately profitable? Identify your priorities on 3-5 levels, depending on your scope of work, ranging from most to least important. (If and when possible, delete any you find to be of little to no value.)
2. Schedule the highest priorities first
Just as you make time for and schedule phone conferences, meetings, and appointments, make time for and schedule your most important writing priorities. Too few people take themselves seriously enough, especially those who are self-employed, to schedule projects into their schedule and actually fulfill on the time commitment they have assigned. If you learn to make this a habit, completing high-priority, high-value tasks first will soon come naturally.
3. Schedule lower priorities next
Fill the rest of your schedule with the other priorities in decreasing order of importance. As your days fill up, you will see one of two trends. You will notice how much you have been trying to cram into your workweek, or you will notice how much free time you could have if it weren't for time drains.
If you are a procrastinator at heart or historically poor with time management, this new system may be a struggle for you. If you commit to this new plan, you will see as time goes on that you are able to create more results in less time. Instead of finishing things in a mad rush at the end of the week, the start of your week and beginning of your day will be immediately productive and profitable. You will also notice yourself spending less time on activities that are of little to no value, rather than on activities you just plain weren't interested in.
For more help identifying your highest value activities, read Pareto's Principle for Writers.
