Big Rocks First: Double Your Productivity This Week

Every Monday is Productivity & Organization Day at Zen Habits.

If your week is seven buckets, and you go into each bucket without planning ahead, and you fill it up with little pebbles and grains of sand and whatever other debris comes your way … soon there will be no room for the Big Rocks. Your buckets fill up faster than you know it, and once your buckets are full, you’re done. You can’t get bigger buckets.

What you can do is put the Big Rocks in first, and fill in the pebbles and sand around them.

The Big Rocks are the major things you want to get done this week. A report, launching a new website, going to the gym, spending time with your spouse and kids, achieving your dreams. These Big Rocks get pushed back from week to week because we never have time to do them — our days fill up too quickly, and before we know it, weeks have passed and the Big Rocks are still sitting on the side, untouched.

Plan your week ahead of time, placing your Big Rocks first.

This is a similar concept to MITs, except on a weekly scale instead of a daily scale. Big Rocks are your MITs for the week.

Here’s how you do it (with the unavoidable list, of course!):

Make a list. At the beginning of the week — Sunday evening or Monday morning — write out the Big Rocks that you want to accomplish this week. These should be the important things — if you looked back on the week and said you did them, you would be proud of having done them. Be sure to include not only work stuff, but some of the tasks that will further along your life’s goals and dreams.
Keep it short. In the beginning, just have 4-6 … you don’t need to try to do 10 or more Big Rocks, especially not at first. Later, you may get better at judging how many Big Rocks you can do in a week, but for now, shoot for about one per day.
Place the Rocks. Look at your weekly schedule. If you don’t have one, write out the days of the week with one-hour blocks (or print out a schedule from an online calendar). Write out pre-existing appointments. Now take your Big Rocks, and put them in the schedule. Try to put them in a spot where you know you’ll get them done. Not a spot that’s traditionally too busy to concentrate, and not in a little half-hour window between meetings. Give yourself time to do it.
Leave space for the incoming pebbles. Don’t fill in the rest of the schedule if possible. Every morning, look at your schedule and commit yourself to doing the Big Rock(s) for that day. That’s your MIT for the day. If there are less important MITs, you can put them in the schedule, but don’t put too much. A tight schedule tends to bump into itself, pushing things back when other things inevitably take too long.
Do it early. If you can, place your Big Rocks first thing in the morning. Don’t schedule them for later in the day if possible, because by that time, a few fires have come up, and the Big Rock will get pushed back as always. Do it first, and then you’ve got the rest of the day for the busy-work.
Be Proud. When your week’s done, look back on it — if you got any (or all!) of the Big Rocks done, be proud of yourself and happy. It feels good!

How does this simple method make you more productive? Well, productivity isn’t about doing a lot of stuff. It’s about getting the important stuff done. But if you’re running around doing all the little stuff … sure, you did a lot and you were very busy, but how much did you really accomplish? Oftentimes we can look back on our week and say, “I didn’t get a lot done, but I sure was stressed doing it!”

This is a way of getting the important stuff done. Sure, you’ll still have to worry about the little stuff. But at the end of the week, you can look back and say that you’ve been productive. It makes a world of difference.

Note: You probably noticed that this post isn’t really about GTD. But I’ve found that it works incredibly well with GTD, and I’d recommend that you use the two systems together.

Update: As some have pointed out in the comments, this is not an original idea. Steven Covey (in his books 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First) and others have used this idea for a long time. I should also point out that the idea is not Covey’s originally (although I might have read it from him first) - he relates the Big Rocks story as one that his associate heard at a seminar. I just wanted to share it as something that works for me, and could be used in conjunction with GTD. I hope you’ve found it useful!

Big Rocks First: Double Your Productivity This Week

Every Monday is Productivity & Organization Day at Zen Habits.

What you can do is put the Big Rocks in first, and fill in the pebbles and sand around them.

Plan your week ahead of time, placing your Big Rocks first.

This is a similar concept to MITs, except on a weekly scale instead of a daily scale. Big Rocks are your MITs for the week.

Here’s how you do it (with the unavoidable list, of course!):

Make a list. At the beginning of the week — Sunday evening or Monday morning — write out the Big Rocks that you want to accomplish this week. These should be the important things — if you looked back on the week and said you did them, you would be proud of having done them. Be sure to include not only work stuff, but some of the tasks that will further along your life’s goals and dreams.
Keep it short. In the beginning, just have 4-6 … you don’t need to try to do 10 or more Big Rocks, especially not at first. Later, you may get better at judging how many Big Rocks you can do in a week, but for now, shoot for about one per day.
Place the Rocks. Look at your weekly schedule. If you don’t have one, write out the days of the week with one-hour blocks (or print out a schedule from an online calendar). Write out pre-existing appointments. Now take your Big Rocks, and put them in the schedule. Try to put them in a spot where you know you’ll get them done. Not a spot that’s traditionally too busy to concentrate, and not in a little half-hour window between meetings. Give yourself time to do it.
Leave space for the incoming pebbles. Don’t fill in the rest of the schedule if possible. Every morning, look at your schedule and commit yourself to doing the Big Rock(s) for that day. That’s your MIT for the day. If there are less important MITs, you can put them in the schedule, but don’t put too much. A tight schedule tends to bump into itself, pushing things back when other things inevitably take too long.
Do it early. If you can, place your Big Rocks first thing in the morning. Don’t schedule them for later in the day if possible, because by that time, a few fires have come up, and the Big Rock will get pushed back as always. Do it first, and then you’ve got the rest of the day for the busy-work.
Be Proud. When your week’s done, look back on it — if you got any (or all!) of the Big Rocks done, be proud of yourself and happy. It feels good!

Comments (35)

Pascal Venier Says:

April 10th, 2007, 7:56 am

This sounds vaguely familiar. Would it, by any chance, be based on Stephen Covey’s book First Things First?

Leo Says:

April 10th, 2007, 8:01 am

Great question, Pascal. You might be right. I know it’s not an original idea, but one I picked up a long time ago and only began implementing again recently. First Things First was one of my favorite books for awhile (about 10 years ago), so that’s very possible. When I was doing the post I did a search but didn’t find it — I wanted to give credit to the author.

Anyway, First Things First is basically the same concept, whether the Big Rocks idea is from that book or not. Put your most important things first. It’s a powerful concept that is embodied in many productivity books, and again, I recommend it in combination with GTD (and MITs).

Thanks again for the excellent question!

Andrew Dubber Says:

April 10th, 2007, 8:12 am

I think the ‘big rocks’ metaphor predates Covey’s book (though that is the first place I encountered it). As far as I can recall, Covey cites it as an anecdote he was made aware of, rather than a new piece of knowledge he generated.

Three things arise from this:

1) It’s a damn useful frame for approaching the week’s work;
2) That particular book of Covey’s is worth a read;
3) Prioritising and Getting Things Done work well together.

Deb Says:

April 10th, 2007, 9:02 am

Excellent blog. The rocks and sands reminds of the story of the professor teaching his students about filling a jar with rocks, sands and stones. Only the rocks in that story are your personal life. But it certainly fits here and is making me think about my week in a different manner. Your blog has become my daily ritual. Thanks for another inspiring blog

Pascal Venier Says:

April 10th, 2007, 9:11 am

@Leo This is indeed a fine post which is a credit to you. You are very right when you say it is a powerful concept. Simple but powerful.

@Andrew It often difficult to tell where an idea first originated in the literature of time-management or personal productivity.
As an historian, I sometime wonder whether any research has been published on this history of this genre. Looking further into this is on my someday-maybe list (Well, it is now: I have just added this to my trusted system! :-)

I tend to believe that the important thing is that this type of idea/metaphore has really fully played its role, when you have all but forgotten where you first came accross it, and it has become fully ingrained in your way of being and doing.

What Jeffrey Pfeffer and Bob Sutton wrote about business books in general, in the introduction of The Knowing-Doing Gap, could perhaps also apply to books on personal productivity: “In 1996, more than 1,700 business books were published in the United States, 1 and more are published each year. Many of these books are filled with the same analyzes and prescriptions, albeit using different language and graphics, as could be found in similar books published the year before. In fact, many of the ideas proclaimed as new each year can be found in similar books printed decades earlier. Yet these books find a ready market because the ideas, although often widely known and proven to be useful and valid, remain unimplemented. So, authors try, in part through repackaging and updating, to somehow get managers to not only know but to do something with what they know. And managers continue to buy the books filled with ideas they already know because they intuitively understand that knowing isn’t enough. They hope that by somehow buying and reading one more book they will finally be able to translate this performance knowledge into organizational action.”

Kristin Says:

April 10th, 2007, 10:19 am

Thanks, Leo! I look forward to your GTD/productivity posts on Tuesdays. I feel like I have met with a productivity coach! Thanks for keeping me on track.

John Wesley Says:

April 10th, 2007, 12:36 pm

This is a very useful way to manage tasks. Often we don’t make an effort to sort out what really needs to get done and what doesn’t. I’m in the middle of reading GTD, so I can’t wait to see how well I can implement it.

blue robin Says:

April 10th, 2007, 12:55 pm

concepts don’t make people productive. people do. a franklin planner, a palm pilot, a great new concept, is not going to make anyone more productive. a person has to do it.

Leo Says:

April 10th, 2007, 14:27 pm

Great comments, everyone.

@Pascal: Thanks for the longer-term perspective on productivity literature. Very interesting.

@John: Good luck with GTD … I hope it works well for you.

@blue robin: You have a point … however, people can become more productive with the right concepts. You can run around like a chicken with your head cut off (I did this for too long), or use concepts such as this and work on the important things, using less energy. You’re right, that the tool doesn’t get the job done, but with the right tool, the job becomes a whole lot easier. Thanks for the comment!

Tony D. Clark Says:

April 10th, 2007, 14:39 pm

I have a similar approach, and I find when I don’t follow it, I end up scrambling and putting out little fires all week. When the weekend comes, though it seems like I’ve been crazy busy, nothing of any real value is done.

I also have more luck when I have a template or form to fill out for the day and week. I’ve been using David Seah’s PCEO Task Planner along with a custom task flow form I made.

Lauda Says:

April 10th, 2007, 15:32 pm

Leo, hey I really like your blog…but I think you really should give credit to Covey in the actual post, because it is almost word for word from his book. And, as you mention, you probably go the idea from 7 Habits. Pawning others’ ideas off as your own is, well, obviously not the most ideal way to provide original content–but maybe that is not what you are going for??

Leo Says:

April 10th, 2007, 16:09 pm

@Tony: Thanks for sharing your approach. It’s great to hear about what works and doesn’t work for others — I think you and I have similar working styles, as I also use Seah’s CEO Task Planner.

@Lauda: As I mentioned in the comment above, I did try to search for the original author of this concept, but as others have mentioned, it’s a concept that’s been around for awhile (even before Covey). I certainly didn’t mean to pass this off as my original idea, and will make a note in the post itself. Thanks for the comment and suggestion!

David Says:

April 10th, 2007, 20:39 pm

If I recall correctly, it was Dale Carnegie who said something along these lines:

“Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”

This would predate both Covey and “Big Rocks”.

Kaz Says:

April 11th, 2007, 4:12 am

Great writeup.

Keith Says:

April 11th, 2007, 10:20 am

I recently attended the Franklin Covey ‘Focus’ training, and am happy to say that it is easier to implement than I had imagined. It deals with planning and organizing your day, and the ‘choose your rocks’ metaphor is used in class as well.

I am not, by nature, an organized person, but in just a few weeks of using a system, I have gotten more done, professionally and personally, than I would have imagined.

I would recommend it to anyone who feels they don’t manage time as well as they need to.

Rolf Says:

April 18th, 2007, 23:04 pm

I like the big rocks analogy, but most of us have lots of pebbles and sand that we have to deal with, life’s not all about big rocks!

I’m a blue or maybe brown belt GTD practitioner and I find that capturing all my next actions means that a lot of sand and pebbles finds its way onto my context lists.

If I dont empty out the sand I find it starts to become a real distraction. So every couple of weeks I make one of my big rocks a cleanout of the sand and pebbles on my lists.

It helps keep the list clear and makes choosing next actions easier when you are not confronted by so many NA’s !

Leo Says:

April 18th, 2007, 23:13 pm

Hi Rolf … I hear what you’re saying about clearing out all the sand, and that does make some sense, especially if they’re stressing you out or getting in your way. But the sand has a way of filling up your jars, and soon there’s no room for the Big Rocks.

My suggestion is that you do a combination of both … schedule time for the Big Rocks, so that you’re getting the stuff that matters most done … and also schedule time for the sand, so that you’re clearing off your lists. But don’t just do the sand, or you’ll work hard without doing anything important or productive. Great comment!

Motorcycle Guy Says:

April 27th, 2007, 10:16 am

Awesome analogy with the rocks and buckets.

Stephen Says:

June 3rd, 2007, 9:02 am

This is great stuff, I am currently building a new calendar page with the Big Rocks as the focus. Check it out here, I need beta testers!

apple Says:

July 5th, 2007, 1:17 am

very useful idea~~
thanks

Eugene (Editor, Varsity Blah) Says:

December 29th, 2007, 1:45 am

A great idea would be to eliminate all the non-essential distractions first. I recently wrote about the approach in my latest ebook, which goes like this:

“Another important lesson I learned in life is all about priorities. I’ve found that the best way to manage my time (and my stress) has been to focus on things that really matter. It’s about knowing what I absolutely have to do and what can either be postponed, delegated, or done away with altogether. It’s about knowing what to take seriously and what to let slide. It’s about taking care of the big things so the little ones take care of themselves and the really little ones don’t bother me at all.”

counterstr Says:

February 2nd, 2008, 3:17 am

pre teen pageant gown

M;cha31 Says:

March 4th, 2008, 0:13 am

The Big Rock metaphor reminds me of Brian Tracy’s “Eat That Frog” concept.

Dan Says:

April 26th, 2008, 0:44 am

How Big Rocks can be implemented with Gtdagenda

1. Make a list
- Set Projects and then the tasks inside them. The Big Rocks will be the projects that have priority 1. They are clearly separated from the rest with a line.

2. Keep it short
- Set 4-6 projects as priority 1.

3. Place the Rocks
- In the Schedules section, create a new weekly schedule, and link each schedule entry to one of your Big Rocks projects. When you click on the project name, it will send you to that project’s page, where you can see all the tasks (action steps) that need to be completed.

4. Leave space for the incoming pebbles
- Don’t clutter your schedule, leave some blank spaces between schedule’s activities. Even if you don’t do add any more pebbles, you know it’s time for relaxing.

5. Do it early
- Put them in your schedule in the morning.

6. Be Proud
- When you look at that schedule, you’ll see which project was completed.

Dan,
http://www.gtdagenda.com

And what’s cool is that the Schedules can be accessed with your mobile phone too, at http://www.gtdagenda.mobi
You can take them everywhere.

Josh Says:

April 29th, 2008, 14:40 pm

I can’t tell you how much this has helped me! I look at my college coursework in a different way now.By the way, love how you allude to the big rocks :)

It makes everything much more simple when you take an approach like this. Great post!

Sjors Provoost Says:

May 17th, 2008, 5:55 am

Love the concept of Big Rocks v.s. Sand. Lots of my sand consists of e-mail, rss, newspaper articles and 5 minute tasks. I find them annoying so I try to get rid of them first, before I tackle any rocks. But as you point out, that can leave the rocks lying around for a long time.

So I am going to try two things here.

The first thing is to keep the picture of buckets (representing time), sand (small stuff) and stones (big stuff) in mind.

The second thing is that I will try to plan some of these rocks in advance.

The problem I have with the second part though, is a thing that David Allen pointed out in GTD: the disadvantage of settings goals is that you are disappointed when you don’t reach them.

I am thinking of trying to see the stones not so much as goals, but as a reminder not to spend all my time on sand.

re Says:

July 21st, 2008, 8:24 am

I am proud of such interesting blogs create person. Some years ago I read a book where was published the same list of advice for optimized a work week, so I try this kind of optimized my work week, so I can say that it’s really helped me in difficult moments.

andar909 Says:

August 11th, 2008, 1:21 am

hi, andar here, i just read your post. i like very much. agree to you, sir.

Christian Tietze Says:

August 31st, 2008, 15:38 pm

Reminds me of Paretos 80/20 rule.

You know, the story where he puts “Big Rocks” in a bowl and everyone thinks it’s full.
Then he pours in smaller stones first, then some sand and water at last. But the Big Rocks wouldn’t fit if they weren’t put in first.

pemsi Says:

September 1st, 2008, 21:53 pm

in my opinion, making a list of what to do is the first and most important thing to do.

Stephanie Booth Says:

September 8th, 2008, 9:20 am

The first time I came upon this idea (which has been very useful to me over the years) was on A List Apart, which called it the “Pickle Jar Theory”: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/pickle (in 2002)

Daniel Murray Says:

October 6th, 2008, 3:16 am

Thanks! Really helpful insight - Great post!

Valeria | TimelessLessons Says:

November 7th, 2008, 10:05 am

Excellent article! The rocks and sands reminds me of the story of the professor teaching his students about filling a jar with rocks, sands and stones. Only the rocks in that story are your personal life. But it certainly fits here and is making me think about my week in a different manner. Thank you for the reminder Leo.

Wisdom Talks Says:

December 2nd, 2008, 4:04 am

Although its coming from Robery Covey Book. But still there are thousands of people who have not read this book, just like me.

This Tip is really useful for me.

Thanks.

Lee Rodrigues Says:

January 1st, 2009, 15:32 pm

I put this technique to work in my life immediately and I use this same metaphor with my coaching clients everyday. Leo created a simple approach to a balanced Zen life and I am blessed in finding the Zen Habits blog.

Lee Rodrigues
Technology Dojo