原文作者：佚名

　　one day， an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and， to drive home a point， used an illustration those students will never forget.
 　　as he stood in front of the group of overachievers he said， “ok， time for a quiz.” he pulled out a one-gallon， wide-mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him. he also took out a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them， one at a time， into the jar. when the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside， he asked， “is this jar full？”
 　　everyone in the class yelled， “yes.” the time management expert replied， “really？” he reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar， causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. he then asked the group once more， “is this jar full？”
 　　by this time the class was on to him. “probably not，” one of them answered. “good！” he replied. he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. he started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. once more he asked the question， “is this jar full？”
 　　“no！” the class shouted. once again he said， “good.” then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. then he looked at the class and asked， “what is the point of this illustration？” one eager student raised his hand and said， “the point is， no matter how full your schedule is， if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in！”
 　　“no，” the speaker replied， “that’s not the point. the truth this illustration teaches us is if you don’t put the big rocks in first， you’ll never get them in at all. what are the ‘big rocks’ in your life？ time with your loved ones， your education， your dreams， a worthy cause， teaching or mentoring others？ remember to put these big rocks in first or you’ll never get them in at all.”[论文网]
 　　一天，时间管理专家为一群学生讲课。为了使观点表达明确，他做了一个演示。这个演示将使学生终生难忘。
　　站在那些成就突出的学生前面，专家说：“我们来做个小测验。”他拿出一个一加仑的广口瓶放在面前的桌上。随后，他取出一堆拳头大小的石块，一块一块仔细地放进玻璃瓶。直到石块堆到高出瓶口，再也放不下了，他问道：“瓶子满了吗？”
 　　所有学生应道：“满了！”时间管理专家反问：“真是这样？”他伸手从桌下拿出一桶砾石，倒了一些进去，并敲击玻璃瓶壁使砾石填满下面石块的间隙。“现在瓶子满了吗？”他第二次问道。
 　　这一次学生有些明白了。“可能还没有。”一位学生应道。“很好！”专家说。他伸手从桌下拿出一桶沙子，开始把沙子慢慢倒进玻璃瓶。沙子填满了石块和砾石的所有间隙。他又一次问学生：“瓶子满了吗？”
 　　“没满！”学生们大声说。他又一次说：“很好！”然后他拿过一壶水倒进玻璃瓶直到水面与瓶口持平。抬头看着学生，他问道：“这个例子说明什么？”一个心急的学生举手发言：“意义在于，无论你的时间多么不够用，如果尽最大努力，你总能做更多的事情！”
 　　“不，”时间管理专家说，“那不是它真正的意思。这个例子告诉我们：如果你不先放大石块，那你就再也不能把它放进瓶子了。那么，你生命中的‘大石头’又是什么呢？和你爱的人共同拥有的时光，你的学习，你的梦想，某件值得的事，教育或者指导他人？千万记住，你得先去处理这些‘大石块’，否则，一辈子你都无法处理它们。”