Remember that Rocks-in-a-Jar object lesson I told you about two days ago? There's another insight from it that I'd like to share. Rocks are definite in there size and shape. They each only take up so much room in a jar, and exactly that much room. Water, on the other hand, is more versatile. Assuming you have a working tap available, you could easily fill a jar with as much or as little water as you want, and the water will fill up all the space you give to it.
Some activities are like rocks in that they only take up so much (and exactly that much) time to complete. These activities include doing a specific homework assignment, doing a certain chore, or watching a movie. Each of these only takes up so much time, and when it's done, it's done. Other activities are more like water (or maybe sand would be a better substance for this example), in that they can take up as much time as you let them consume. These activities include studying, doing chores, and watching TV. Yes, if you limit yourself to one or two TV shows, watching them takes up only a finite amount of time, but once you've turned the TV on, it's easy to not turn it off, and it can keep playing for an indefinite amount of time.
The wisdom of performing definite-time tasks before indefinite-time tasks has nothing to do with priorities, so it's not always the wisest course of action. However, it does involve the number of tasks you can get done, which can put a lot of check-marks on your To-Do list, which is good for morale. If you do perform the definite-time tasks first, you can accomplish a good number of them, and then fill your remaining time with tasks of less-definite duration. One way, you'll get a good number of rocks in, plus a decent amount of sand, and the other way, you'll get a lot of sand in, but only a few rocks. Depending on your priorities, rocks first may be better, and in most cases I face regularly, it usually is.
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