If you’re like me, the days are packed to the brim with an unending set of meetings, events, coffees and to dos that seem important but ultimately have little impact or outcome. And, if like me, you are on the hunt for a model to help you set priorities, this is the right place:
Big Rocks, Pebbles, Sand:
Fill a jar with big rocks (the most important things you have going on), then pebbles (the things in your life that matter, but you could live without), then sand (remaining filler – material possessions). If you start with sand in the jar, there won’t be room for rocks or pebbles. Keep your big rocks to 4-5 at a time, manage the pebbles and try not to have too much sand.
The Urgent / Important Matrix:
This one is fairly self explanatory. Do and Plan the important things, Delegate and Eliminate the unimportant. And do them on the appropriate timescale mapped to urgency.
Timeline Model:
The final of the models is to look out 10 years (any longer isn’t tangible enough) and imagine what you would like to accomplish across key categories such as your health, family & friends, career, finances, spirituality, etc. Once you have a clear understanding of those goals, bring it to the near term with near term steps that will help set you on journey. Then go back out and connect the dots from today until tomorrow. Anything that deviates from the goals and that line should not be made a priority.
These don’t need to be independent models – in fact I use them in conjunction depending on the context I’m in. Regardless of which one(s) you choose, using these frameworks will help guide how you spend your days.
The Objective Co 