The Mayo Jar is a powerful lesson in time management that we've made easy to do yourself in your classroom. Includes all you need -- except the beer!

The Parable

As the story goes A professor stands before his philosophy class with an empty jar, fills it to the top with golf balls and asks if its full. The group says "yes."

Yet he still manages to fill the jar with more stuff -- first pebbles, then sand, even a beer or two!

The golf balls represent the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions–things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else; the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

The Jar Activity

Set up: Divide the group into teams. Give each team a smaller jar (not provided) and an assortment of materials: golf balls, rocks, stones, gravel, sand, or anything else of your choosing. Be sure each group has exactly the same amounts of materials so you can determine which group was able to fit the most into their jar.

Explain: Challenge groups to fill their jar with as much of their materials possible.

Contents

Plastic Mayo jar is 7" tall, 5" diam. Includes pebbles, sand and golf balls, packed separately. Comes in a convenient see-through vinyl drawstring storage bag for convenient transport.

Weight is 7.5 lbs.