Dear Wonderful Cotillion Students,
I hope that you enjoyed your 4 extra days of Winter Break, and that you are off to a great new year!
Last Friday, I asked you to consider the small changes that you could make in your lives that will increase your happiness this year. One of the changes that I would like you to think about this week is your time management. Ladies and gentlemen know that one of the most precious and valuable resources we have is our time, and to use it well, is to live well.
When I was growing up, my grandmother helped me learn about time management by telling me the following story:
There was a professor that showed his class a glass jar. He filled the glass jar with large rocks and asked the class if it was full. When they replied ‘yes’, he brought out a bag of gravel and poured the gravel into the jar and shook it a little so that the gravel would filter down around the rocks. Then he asked again if the jar was full. They again replied ‘yes’, so he brought out a bag of sand and repeated the process, with the sand filtering down around the gravel and rocks. Again, he asked if the jar was full? One of the students – a wise student – said ‘Maybe?’. Finally, the professor brought out a bottle of water and poured the water in. The water filled in around the rocks, gravel and sand. At that point the professor tells his class that the jar is now full. The professor explained that to have all of these things fit in the jar, he had to put the ‘big rocks’ in first. If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.
Our priorities are our ‘big rocks’. Ladies and gentlemen understand the need to prioritize so that they can take care of the things that are most important first. The word “priority” means something that you do PRIOR (before) anything else.
I have learned recently that some of the most successful people have very short ‘to do’ lists. Every day they only put the 3 or 4 most important things for them to accomplish that day on their list. Once they have accomplished their most important short list, they make another short list of the next few most important things to accomplish. If you ‘keep your eye on the ball’ you are focusing on those things that are most important – the big rocks, and not having your attention diverted by less important or even unimportant things.
What are your ‘big rocks’? What are the things that are most important to you? What are the things that are most important to accomplish today? When we learn to manage (plan) our time we are showing respect for ourselves.
When we are punctual (on time) we are showing respect for our time and the time of others. I hope that this week you will work on improving your time management by:
- Prioritizing – What are your ‘big rocks’?
- Planning ahead – Schedule your time and have the things that you will need ready.
- Being prepared for classes, lessons, sports, events, etc.
- Being ready to begin when it’s time to start – or you will waste valuable instructional, practice, social or recreational time
- Learning to focus and not be distracted – I know it’s hard, all I ask is that you try!
- Arriving and departing promptly
- Calling in advance if you are going to be late or are not able to attend
(*Did anyone notice that some of those are our cotillion rules for life!)
Helping you become the very best version of YOU is one of my ‘big rocks’! I KNOW the potential you have!
Love,
Mrs. Achiu
Northern Virginia Junior Cotillion 