The term “Rock” came from an analogy in Stephen Covey’s book First Things First. Picture a glass cylinder set on the table. Next to the cylinder are rocks, gravel, sand, and a glass of water. Imagine that the glass cylinder is all of the time that you have during a working day.

• Rocks represent your main priorities
• Gravel is your day-to-day responsibilities
• Sand represents your interruptions
• Water is everything else that happens during your day

If you, as most people do, pour the water in first, the sand in second, the gravel in third, and the rocks in last – the rocks won’t fit. That’s your typical workday. If you do the reverse and prioritize working on the big stuff first – put the rocks in, add the gravel, then the sand, and finally pour the water in – everything fits in the glass cylinder perfectly. Therefore, if you work first on your biggest priorities, i.e., your Rocks, everything else falls into place.