Discuss: Time Management: The Pickle Jar Theory
by Jeremy Wright
- Editorial Comments
2 do I need it?
of course time management is good if you have three or four projects running at the same time, but let’s say you’re a programmer that’s assigned to a program per week (or something like that), then your day would be filled with only one project…
that’s why ala readers have to ask themselves if they really need a time management system.
not that pickle jar isn’t good.
posted at 07:58 am on June 23, 2002 by basta
3 realization
Ohhhhhhhhhh…a [em]figurative[/em] pickle jar. chomps on pickle
Very good theory. It is easy to do things like check e-mail, surf the web, and write. These are things that I do as a break from work rather than scheduled tasks. I guess I have always been practicing the pickle jar theory. Thanks for telling me!
posted at 08:19 am on June 23, 2002 by codeman
4 Hey basta
basta, actually I work in that exact environment. I’ve got 5-year projects, 5 day projects and 5 hour projects. I have dozens of meetings, hundreds of commitments and I’ve tried just about every theory out there. This one simply worked for me in the midst of everything, which is why I chose to write it ;)
posted at 09:24 am on June 23, 2002 by Jeremy C. Wright
5 good in theory
time managment theorys always seem nice, but ive never figured out how to get them to work; guess im to much of a procrastinator :) Pickles are tasty though!
posted at 09:38 am on June 23, 2002 by blueishy
7 Great theory!
Great theory. I’ll try it sometime.
Seriously though, it’s simple and requires minimal thinking and no logging of time. This might work.
posted at 10:31 am on June 23, 2002 by Bill Dolan
8 New or Recycled?
I’m curious to know who runs the time management course that is being referred to here. The theory sounds like it’s from time management guru Stephen Covey’s book, “First Things First”, which I read for the first time in the early 1990’s. It’s still a great theory.
posted at 10:55 am on June 23, 2002 by Mike
9 "Recycled" is a strong word...
I read about this a while ago and thought it was simple and perfect. It’s nice to see that it’s worked its way through the minds of so many people (although when I heard about it there was no mention of pickles or water or sand; just rocks and pebbles). Now I crave pickles, so goodbye, and great job on the article!
posted at 12:58 pm on June 23, 2002 by Linus
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1 The Pickle Jar Theory
Finally, a time management system that is realistic. Thank you. I’m eating my pickles now and preparing my pickle jar.
posted at 05:51 am on June 23, 2002 by Lor