Originally published on September 18, 2008.
A customer just told us this story:
A professor was lecturing his class. He filled a jar with some golf balls. “Is it full?” he asked. His class said yes. So then he put some pebbles into the jar which filled up the empty space. “Now is it full?” he asked. His class said yes. Then he put some sand into the jar, filling up all the remaining little spaces. “Now it’s full,” he said.
You’ve probably heard this version of the story – or read it one some annoying email chain letter – the golf balls are the important things in your life and the pebbles and the sand are the other things that just take up space. Focus on the golf balls, blah blah blah. Actually, I think the golf balls are actually rocks.
Anyhow, the customer had a little update to this story. In her version, there were two glasses of wine sitting next to the jar. So when the professor said the jar was full, the students wanted to know what the wine was for. So the professor dumped the glasses of wine into the jar, proving that there’s always time for a couple glasses of wine!