You may have noticed I haven’t posted in the past few weeks. While my goal is to post once per week at a minimum, life has gotten in the way recently. Looking back over last week I cannot believe how much I accomplished given some real time constraints but I am not so sure it was a good thing. My body is revolting against me and now when I really want to sleep, I cannot because I have to be at work. So, I ask myself Did everything need to happen last week? What could I have done differently?
No, everything did not have to happen last week but I chose what I thought was important at the time. Yes, I could have done some things differently. Should I have? That’s unclear. What I did realize is that my normal practice for how I balance my time and schedule went out the window for a few days and I am now paying the price in muscle aches, a chest cold and a general lack of clarity. It has served as a reminder that my “usual” schedule was created after testing the limits and deciding how much time I need to allocate to certain areas of my life in order to feel balanced. Ignore the schedule, even a little bit, and I am likely to suffer in some way. The penalty for such changes may be illness, an unhappy spouse or children who will no longer obey the family rules.
Each of us has our limits. Here are some ideas for determining what your limits are and how to still make progress toward your goals on a consistent basis:
1. Recognize your limits.
Unfortunately, often the only way to determine a limit comes after we have crossed it and realize such activity needs to be scaled back. Are you feeling more tired than usual? Do you not have enough time in the day? Increasing awareness may be needed to start to recognize where you expect or do too much within a given timeframe.
2. Identify how you have been spending your time.
Is the bulk of your time being spent on things that matter to you or in support of your goals? If not, how can things be shifted to better support your priorities? Sometimes you realize something is missing, such as a hobby, physical activity or quality time with friends and time needs to be created for it.
3. Devise a formula for planning your time.
Spend some time thinking about what you need in your life. For those things that you need, how much time do you need to spend in each area to feel fulfilled?
For example, your formula might look like:
Work - 6 hours per day/5 days per week
Family time – 3 hours per week
Eating – 3 hours per day/7 days per week
Physical activity – 1 hour per day/5 days per week
A work/life balance calculator you may find useful in determining your formula can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/06/04/balance.calculator/.
4. Create a framework that supports the formula.
Simply planning activities and times on a calendar is not enough. A framework includes setting a schedule and putting in place strategies so you can reach your goals, honor your friendships, manage responsibilities, take care of yourself and have quality time with your family members and friends. If you are married or have children, creating this framework so that it is viable will require some collaboration with your partner and others who play a part in childcare. In such cases, everyone’s needs should be considered in creating the family schedule.
For every person the formula and framework will look different. As life circumstances change, this process should be revisited to see if the existing structure continues to work or if additional changes need to be made.
What strategies have you used to identify your limits and work within them to continue to make progress toward your goals?
Monday, March 16, 2009
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