21 awesome!

nice one!

posted at 06:49 am on June 24, 2002 by David

22 sounds familiar

Like the anonymous post above, I heard a similar version of this concept a while ago.

The prof. brings in a jar of big rocks. He asks whether it’s full. Students say yes.

Then he adds smaller rocks. He asks whether it’s full.

Then he adds pebbles. He asks whether it’s full.

Then he fills the rest of it with sand. Finally, he says, it’s full. So he goes into his spiel about life’s priorities and all that.

But then a student runs up to the front of the class and pours a can of beer into the jar, proving “there’s always room for beer.”

posted at 08:26 am on June 24, 2002 by Adrian H.

23 Well...

I’ve also heard this theory before. But I have one slight problem (even though I KNOW this way of working/living would be a good one): I’ve received this theory so maaaaaaany times in spam mail, you know, the ones that try to teach you how to live a better life, “visit your grandmother at least once a month – Eat right and exercise – etc.”
Reads a bit like this one : http://www.ics.uci.edu/~klefstad/priorities.html

So, sure, it’s a great way of handling life. But as I read the article, I couldn’t help my brain from screaming : “SPAM ! SPAM !”. My bad. I’ll try anyway, ‘cos, once again, it feels like I’d need it these days…

(and, nice one with the beer =) )

posted at 11:47 am on June 24, 2002 by Xavier

24 change of pace

Nice stuff, Jeremy. Nice change of pace at ALA…keeps different topics in the mix. Irrelevant for some – maybe. Relevant for others – definitely! Thanks for publishing this, Zeld!

Aaron

posted at 01:38 pm on June 24, 2002 by Aaron

25 To Basta: Change size of jar and/or split tasks

I have a similar situation as you (Basta) describe – days filled with a single project/task, but I can see benefits in using this “Jar Theory”. The strength is of course the metaphor (or is it an allegory? Forgive my linguistic shortcomings.).

In my experience there is seldom a task that large (lasting 1 day or more), that cannot be broken down into smaller /sub/tasks. This excercise can seem futile (the one task’ll get done without it), but my point is that within such a large task I can often identify more important subtasks (critical to the completion of the overall task) and not-so-important ones. In this Jar Theory the former subtasks would be ‘rocks’, the latter ones ‘pebbles’.

By concentrating on the critical subtasks – the rocks – I will sometimes improve my productivity, sometimes not. The greatest benefit though, will be that I definitely minimize the chances of my spending time picking pebbles while there are rocks unturned.

Also, in a scenario with one project lasting several days, a change of scope could enable this theory to work under various conditions:

Make the project scope the jar. Now it’s easy to identify rocks/pebbles/&c. to structure and prioritize your day(s). When the time comes when there are more diverse assignments, simply resize the jar to fit your new needs.

The benefit here would be using one (1) system, the mental image of the jar and what-not seem to be scalable without loosing relevance (BIG plus) – I thought it over and can’t find any major pitfalls (anyone?).

(Q to Jeremy Wright: The theory doesn’t require you to have a one-size jar does it? If I’m missing important reasons for not using a resizable jar I better scrap these dynamic materials [patent pending] :).)

posted at 03:31 pm on June 24, 2002 by Jan Bjurström

26 Pancakes

I prefer pancakes, but I would never pour water on top of pancakes!

I’ll give it a try with liquid honey. Mmmmh :))

posted at 03:42 pm on June 24, 2002 by Homer S

27 too many rocks

So, I have heard about this theory before.. and it’s a good one.. the problem I have, and I think most anyone who works on projects simular to my projects is that, well, there are just too many rocks to fit into the pickle jar… it’s amost as if I need a second pickle jar to take care of the other rocks, but that will never happen because they rocks can only be handled by myself… there is a long story there but I will spare you of that. So my question is, what if you have too many large rocks? The rocks alone can not fit into the confines of a pickle jar… what do you do? prioritize? put some of the rocks on the back burner? I am currently doing this, the problem is, more rocks keep appearing… the burner is now overcrowded.

posted at 04:20 pm on June 24, 2002 by Nick

28 to jan:

It is a metaphor. An allegory is in more of a story form and a bit longer. Like Animal Farm is an allegory of Russian history and Stalin etc.

posted at 07:11 pm on June 24, 2002 by codeman

29 Answer to Q

Hey mate… Resizable jar? I’m not entirely sure the specific size of the jar (scope of the project/day) matters that much. In fact I would say in the metaphor/allegory (I’m equally linguistically challenged) that it doesn’t matter at all.

Get your rocks done, and the rest of the jar generally falls together really nicely. Even today I rescheduled one of my large rocks because I knew I couldnt’ give it the “shining” and attention it deserved.

It really is a simple concept: prioritise. But it’s more than that. Prioritising does no good if you don’t take action, as I’m sure we all know ;)

posted at 07:21 pm on June 24, 2002 by Jeremy C. Wright

30 Nick :)

Hey mate, your question is a good one. Since I’m now involved in the following things:

- writing for sitepoint – starting a webhosting company – full time lead developer – marketing/pr lead for a .NET forum – domain registrar helpdesk – 3 large client sites

etc, I can totally relate. There is always more of a stress than I can handle. My solution is twofold. First, at the beginning of every day, write down what NEEDS done that day. This ensures that you never miss anything. Next, on a week-to-week basis, ensure that each area you are working on always gets attention.

I find that my biggest problem isnt’ starting things, but maintaining momentum. By holding weekly “evaluations” with myself, I ensure that momentum is always maintained, and by evaluating my daily rocks I ensure that I am keeping my word and nobody is ticked off.

I hope this helps, and if not, truly sorry, I’ll see if I can dig up another Aesop’s Fable for you ;)

posted at 08:31 pm on June 24, 2002 by Jeremy C. Wright