Schedule = Dishes?

After washing the dishes after dinner and placed them into the drying rack, I was reminded of a story I was told years back. By the way, that image is not my sink - didn't want to you have second thoughts if you we're invited over for dinner.

A science teacher was demonstrating volume to his class. He put a 3 Gallon glass beaker on the podium and started his lesson by filling it with rocks. When the level of rocks reached the top of the beaker, he asked his class, "do you all agree that the beaker is full?"
"Yes," responded the class.

The teacher then pulled out a container full of gravel and poured in on top of the rocks. The gravel went into the spaces between the rocks.
He then asked his class, "do you all agree that the beaker is full?"
"Yes," responded the class.

Then the teacher brought out a bucket of sand and proceeded to pour it into the beaker filling the spaces between the rocks and gravel.

Again,he asked his class, "do you all agree that the beaker is full?"
Now catching on, "No," responded the class.

To finalize his point, the teached brought out a pitcher of water and poured it in, truly filling all remaining spaces in the beaker.

"If the water had gone in first, there would not be space for the rest of the items," Explained the teacher, "If we added anything more, the water would overflow."

Putting the dishes on the drying rack made me think of this and how scheduling is so important. If the big, important items, like pots and pans aren't put in first, the glasses won't have space to dry. Just like scheduling your day, if you don't put the big items in as priority, its easy to waste a day. I know I've found myself in this position where it seems like its been a busy day, however, at 5pm, the major things on my check list haven't been touched.

With effective use of your schedule, I believe you can really stretch the productive time in your day.