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In this exercise, the volume of the bottle represents the finite amount of time available to you to do all the things you want to do. You will have to choose how you use this time by filling up the bottle with the various sized rocks.
The gravel below represents small jobs which may be important but which may also be time-wasters. The other sized rocks represent jobs of varying importance which also require varying amounts of time.
In filling up the bottle (ie managing your time) select the type of gravel or rock (ie the size of project) that you would place in the bottle first.
Sometimes you have to be careful doing a lot of those little jobs first, especially if they are time-wasters. You know the ones, like watching "just five minutes of TV" before you start studying!
The danger is that it's possible to fill the whole jar up without ever finishing that major project.
Not a bad idea to start with some medium sized projects, but don't forget to prioritise those major projects first, because they may not all fit in.
Remember too, that while some of those little jobs may be time-wasters, some may grow into major crises if not attended to (like taking the time to fill up the car with petrol!).
If we decide that a mix of differently sized jobs have to fit in the bottle, the problem remains as to which size you should start with.
Yes, it's probably a good idea to prioritise the major projects and get them out of the way first. You'll notice that in the process of prioritising, we left one large rock out. We just haven't got time to build that boat now!
By dealing with the "must do" projects first, you can vary your activities and fit some of the smaller projects in the gaps.
The message in this bottle is that we have a finite amount of time and that we have to plan to get the most important and urgent things done first.
How do you decide what's important and what's urgent?
Check out the What's Important exercise.