Stay-at-Home Dad Survival Guide Tip after Last: Do the Big Things
Tip after Last: Do the Big Things
Monday, 15 December 2008 18:27
There's this story:
A professor is lecturing on time management. He's using props. On the table in front of him sits a jar and some big rocks, a few of which he puts in the jar until he can't fit another. "Is there room to fit anything else?"
A murmur of "no's" from the class (we'll say it's an 8 am class at Chico State).
He pulls out some sand and puts it in the jar, "How about now?"
A few more hungover "No's."
He then pulls out a pitcher and pours water until it fills the jar. "Now, it's full. What does this tell us about time management?"
One of the more industrious students says, "It means there's always more time. We can find ways to fit more into our day."
"No," said the professor smugly, "It shows that if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in. Take care of the important tasks first."
The challenge, of course, is figuring out which are the big things.
I told this story to a group of Hitachi execs at a dinner in Tokyo, back when I did things like talk to Hitachi execs in Tokyo. This division of Hitachi was an investor in the company I was working for, and they were trying to get me to hire their PR agency to represent us in Japan. I had no intention of doing that, but I still had to sit through a four-hour meeting, dinner afterward, and then a trip to a karaoke bar after that. Say it with me, "those were the days."
Now I make Mac n' Cheese for a 7-year-old and a 3-year-old.
Back to that dinner. I told the story and then said my wife was the big rock in my life. (We had been talking about families. I wasn't just blathering sentimentalities). The Hitachi exec trumped me with his brand of cryptic oriental wisdom by saying he and his wife ARE the big rock. His needs and her needs are inseparable.
The quick takeaway: Get a high-paying job so you can hire a maid to clean the house and do the dishes. Also, be astute in figuring out which are the big things.