Concept
Big Rocks
Big rocks are the few important goals that First Things First says must be placed in the week first, as large rocks must go into a jar before gravel, sand and water, or there will be no room for them later.
The image comes from a demonstration First Things First retells: a jar is filled with large rocks, then gravel, then sand, then water, and the audience is asked each time whether it is full. The common lesson is that there is always room for more. The authors draw the opposite one: what matters is order, because the big rocks fit only if they go in before everything else. In the book's weekly process, you reconnect with your mission, list your roles, choose one or two important, non-urgent goals for each role, and book them in the calendar before the week fills; urgent and routine work then takes the space that remains, and a short evaluation at the end of the week feeds the next plan. The authors prefer the week to the day, because daily planning tends to rank urgent tasks against each other, while a week can hold every role. In practice, two or three big rocks for the whole week usually do more than a long list.
A real-life example
The principal of a middle school in Gaziantep spends twenty minutes on Sunday evening listing her roles and one big rock for each: a classroom visit to each new teacher, a draft reading programme, her son's school play and two evening walks. She books them first and handles forms and calls around them. On Friday three of the four are done, and she moves the draft to Monday with a reason noted.
How to use it
- 1List your roles for the week, including one for your own renewal.
- 2Choose one or two big rocks in total for the roles that matter most this week, and book each as a fixed appointment before the week fills.
- 3On Friday, check each big rock and write one line on why any were missed.