Taking a step back from your time and your rocks Tutorial

Ever feel overwhelmed by life’s demands? In "Taking a Step Back from Your Time and Your Rocks," discover how to redefine your priorities and make time for what truly matters. This insightful video explains the concept of 'big rocks' and reveals that we have more time than we realize. Learn to manage your time assertively and deliberately, and reclaim control over your life!

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from your time means defining your priorities in life,

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your professional priorities,

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and allow them the time of your choice.

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Our day is so often filled with emergencies and demands that we rarely have the

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chance to get our heads out of the

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grindstone and ask ourselves an essential question.

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What are my priorities?

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What do I want to invest my time on first?

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In this video we will see that we have a much greater amount of time than we think,

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and that just like the history of the old NSPA professor,

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we just need to define our personal and professional big rocks.

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But before we get started,

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let's hunt down some stereotypes.

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It's not true that we don't have enough time.

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Picture yourself working 45 hours a week

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and that you sleep 7 hours a night.

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You have 67 spare hours per week.

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That's a lot,

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don't you think?

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More than the time you spend at work.

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That's more than 9 hours 30 minutes a day outside of work.

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OK,

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perhaps you spend a certain amount of hours on public transport,

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but that doesn't have to be lost time.

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You can always make phone calls,

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read,

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listen to podcasts,

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and music.

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Time is a choice.

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We can't say I don't have the time,

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but it's not my priority or it's not my top priority.

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Laura Vanderan,

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an American author and speaker on time management,

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gave a TED talk about the situation of a woman she knew.

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This woman suffered water damage in the middle of the week.

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She had to deal with the flood by taking several actions,

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finding a plumber,

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replacing her water heater,

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cleaning her house,

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changing her carpet.

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This event cost her 7 hours of her week.

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If somebody had asked her at the beginning of the week

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if she could spare 7 hours doing her favorite leisure activity,

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she would have replied,

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No,

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can't you see how busy I am?

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And yet she could spare 7 hours in her week.

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She found this time because the water damage became a major priority for her,

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almost vital.

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Our contemporary world is highly demanding an overabundance of information,

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an overabundance of solicitation.

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We can no longer afford to say yes to everything that is offered to us.

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We need to make choices.

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If our child is very ill,

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we will find time for him.

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If you are offered $50,000 for a simple one day

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task on the sole condition that you do it immediately,

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chances are that you will find that day.

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So of course,

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if our house is flooded,

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we will find time for it as well.

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So here's a piece of advice.

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Manage your priorities,

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your real priorities,

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like you would manage a flooding.

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Top of the list.

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Here is a story that I got from the training organization Dinnai.

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And that you can easily find on the internet in written format or even in video.

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One day an old professor from the National

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School of Public Administration NSPA was hired to

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conduct a training on effective time planning to

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a group of about 15 brilliant students.

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This course was one of the 5 workshops of their day of training.

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The old teacher had only one hour to present his subject.

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Standing in front of the class of elite

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who were ready to write down everything the expert was about to teach,

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the old teacher looked at them

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one by one slowly and said,

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We are going to conduct an experiment.

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From under the desk that separated him from his students,

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the old teacher took out a huge 1 gallon mason jar,

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a glass jar of more than 4 L,

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and placed it delicately in front of him.

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Then he took out about a dozen rocks about the

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size of tennis balls and gently placed them one by one

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into the large jar.

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When the jar was filled to the brim and it was impossible to add another stone,

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he slowly looked up at his students and asked,

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Is the jar full?

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They all answered,

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Yes.

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He waited a few seconds and added,

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Really?

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He then leaned again and pulled out a

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container filled with gravel from under his desk.

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Meticulously he poured the gravel

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onto the big rocks,

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then slightly stirred the jar.

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The pieces of gravel seeped in between the rocks all the way to the bottom of the jar.

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The old professor looked up at his audience and asked again,

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Is this jar full?

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This time,

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the smart students were starting to understand his scheme.

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One of them answered,

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Probably not.

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Very well,

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said the old professor.

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He bent down again,

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and this time he pulled out a pot of sand from under the desk.

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He carefully poured the sand into the jar.

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The sand went to fill up the spaces between the big rocks and the gravel.

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Once again he asked,

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Is this jar full?

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This time,

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without hesitation and in unison,

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the smart students replied,

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No,

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very good,

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said the old professor,

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and as they expected,

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he grabbed the pitcher of water on the desk and filled the jar to the brim.

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The old professor then looked up at this group and asked,

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What big truth does this experiment prove?

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The boldest of the students thinking about the title of the course replied,

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it shows that even when we think our schedule is completely full,

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if we really want to,

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we can add more appointments,

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more things to do.

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No,

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said the old teacher,

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that's not it.

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The big truth that this experiment proves is the following.

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If we don't put the big rocks in first,

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we will never be able to make them all fit later.

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There was a deep silence as everyone became aware of the evidence of these words.

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The old teacher then said,

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what are the big rocks in your life,

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your health,

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your family,

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your friends,

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learning,

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defending a cause,

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relaxing,

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taking your time,

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or something else?

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What you should keep in mind

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is how important it is to put your big rocks first in your life,

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or else you risk

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not succeeding in life.

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If you prioritize minor problems,

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gravel,

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sand.

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You will fill your life with minor problems,

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and you will not have enough precious time to

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devote to the important elements of your life.

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So

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don't forget to ask yourself,

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what are the big rocks in my life.

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Then

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place them into the jar life first.

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The old professor greeted his audience with a

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friendly wave and slowly left the room.

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So

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what are the big rocks in our lives,

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those we choose for this year.

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To answer this question,

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I invite you to define your life areas first.

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What are the main areas of your life?

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Define 3 to 6 areas,

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family,

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career,

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couple,

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social relations,

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sports,

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leisure,

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personal development,

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spirituality,

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art,

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social commitment,

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your own main areas.

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If you can't find these areas,

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choose at least 3,

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career,

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relationships,

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and the self.

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Then

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establish the amount of time allocated to each of them.

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Make a pie chart.

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I'm serious,

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do it.

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Count your weekly work hours if necessary,

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50% for work,

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20% for family.

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I urge you to pause this video for 5 minutes,

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5 minutes only to make your pie chart.

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OK,

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you have your pie chart in front of you.

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How are you feeling?

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In which areas would you like to spend more time this

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year and what activities are you willing to cut back on?

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Which rocks do you want to put right away in your jar?

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Be precise on the big ones.

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How many hours per week

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from the 67 hours you have left after counting work and sleep?

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Do you want to invest in these priorities?

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Do the same for your professional life.

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Which projects or files are for you the big rocks of this year?

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Those which will always be a priority,

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something to put first

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before diving into a task,

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always ask yourself this question.

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Am I working on one of my big rocks,

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one of my top priorities,

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or am I stirring gravel or worse,

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sand or water?

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In order to establish your big rock of the year,

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here's another tip

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Write the annual performance review of the upcoming year.

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In one year

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What are the 3 to 5 achievements that prove to

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you that you made this professional year a successful one?

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I invite you to pause the video again

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to answer this question.

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What are the 3 to 5 accomplishments that

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have made this professional year a successful one?

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Same question goes for your personal life.

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What are the 3 to 5 accomplishments that have made this year an incredible year?

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You can also put 3 to 5 rocks in a jar on your desk

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and or in your living room.

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Which will remind you of the old teacher's wisdom

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and your own priorities.

Mandarine AI: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW