I’ve been contemplating time management lately and have been reading a book called Four Thousand Weeks. Considering the average human lifespan, it means that life spans approximately 4,000 weeks.
In this book, the author provides an interesting insight. We’ve always been told to do the important things first. When faced with large rocks, pebbles, and sand, how should one fill a jar? If you start with sand, then pebbles, and finally large rocks, it won’t fit; but if you start with large rocks, then pebbles, and sand, you can fill in the gaps and fit everything inside—a story many may have heard at some point.
However, the author argues that life and our aspirations do not resemble rocks, pebbles, and sand. If 4,000 weeks is the jar, the things we want to do are like huge rocks, so large that even one can exceed the capacity of the jar. For instance, one small wish of mine is to play Overwatch at a professional gamer level. If I were to be even more ambitious, let’s say I want to become the best in the world at it. But achieving this could take more than 4,000 weeks. Even physically, within the “small” time of 4,000 weeks, or 100 years which gives about 5,200 weeks, it’s paradoxical to say that I could fit everything I want within that timeframe. Naturally, one could also die sooner.
Interestingly, the story of Warren Buffett comes up here, something I emphasized a lot in my previous business. While flying on a plane, a pilot asks Buffett how to prioritize life and manage time. Buffett then asks him to write down what he considers to be his top 25 priorities. After the pilot fills it out, Buffett tells him to put the top 5 in one list and the remaining 20 into an “avoid-at-all-costs list.” Spending time on the vaguely attractive goals can cause neglect of the top 5, ultimately leading to not achieving any of the 25 goals.
It was a refreshing moment to hear a story I often repeated in a book. Moreover, amusingly, it turns out that this wasn’t actually something Warren Buffett said. After learning this, I felt a bit disheartened and neglected to practice it. However, regardless of who said it, the meaning of the story is clear. In our short lives, the things we can do are very limited. With each returning week, I must live choosing what I truly want to do among the myriad of options.
