The Mayonnaise Jar

I was reading a forward some time back and liked it way it explained the priorities of life. Here it is for you to read.

When things in your life seem, almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class
And had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a
unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and
poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family,
children, health, Friends, and 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, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
'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.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee
represented.

The professor smiled.
'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Alternate solution for meetings

"If you pull me into meetings all day, when do you except me to work?..."
Does this sound familiar to you? Have you been saying this for a while now.. I find myself repeating these words many times.

6 out of 10 times, I have always felt that meetings are/were such a waste of time as people did not have an agenda to begin with, some people don't share information for what-so-ever reasons, the information shared is irrelevant to some folks present, no conclusions reached at the end and most of all there is no consistent way to track the action items. These meetings end up being such waste of time and money for the company.

One of my colleagues just forwarded me an article which talks has an alternate solution for meetings. I am sure you would have heard of "Yammer" which the 'Twitter for enterprise'. I liked the article and thought I would share it with you all. This does not promise to delete all the meetings from your calendar but if practised well, we can cut down atleast 50% of them.

Here is the link to the article - My microsharing success story . Its a nice one, don't miss it.

I am all game to try out Yammer if I can avoid some useless meetings.

What a way to code!!

Listening to A.R.Rehman songs on my "ipod" ear fones with a chocolate bar half inside my mouth and the other half waiting to be munched and coding... I love this!!! I am in love with my work if all these accessories are there with me everytime I work :-)

Can't believe, y'day I was cribbing and boring myself to death in office and see today, what a change!! Moral of the story - Let me be free, let me listen to music and the most important give me more and more chocolates. Mommie..plesae don't hear the last part and blame me for all the cavities. That reminds me of the Himalaya's tooth paste add - 'If you want to eat like a child, brush like an adult' :-)

So boring

Wednesday 1:13pm
I am getting bored to the core... No mood to work today as I managed to complete 75% of my work yesterday. After moving to the new team, I almost forgot what it means to browse. In the last 5 years of my work, I always made sure that I spent 30 - 45 minutes post lunch in reading something that is not work related. Now, its almost like work work and work... No enthu around. People are so silent glued to their monitors as if something is going to fall from there and they have to catch it. I know I know.. its all signs of boredom...
Let me quickly turn on my music player and get hold of my ear phones. Guess that will get me going.