One my many struggles has been to try to find a balance my personal life and professional life. Like many of us that spends 40-60 hours at the offer, we are alway
One of my many struggles has been finding a balance between my personal life and professional life. Like many of us who spend 40-60 hours at the offer, we always try to squeeze in more time for everything else. By the time you get home from work, exhaustion and wanting to spend time with the family are the only things you would like to do. Without taking any actions with your time management, you may generate the empty feeling of not getting enough done in a day.
Think Through It
From the book 168 Hours, Laura Vanderkam’s advice is extremely helpful with this. Her premise is that rather than trying to plan your entire day to the minute, take a step back and plan the week. With 168 hours a week, it’s much more manageable to prepare and less busy. This gives you the ability to prioritize what is important to you within specific periods of the week and not hours in one day. If possible, prepare your week ahead of time. Don’t plan too far in advance because it can quickly change.
Example Week:
Monday/ Weds/ Friday
5AM-7AM – Catch up on news
7AM – 8:30AM – Get kids ready and take them to school
8:30AM to 5PM – Work
5PM to 9PM – Spend time with family
10PM – 11PM – Work
Tuesday/ Thursday
5AM-7AM – Gym
7AM – 8:30AM – Get kids ready and take them to school
8:30AM to 5PM – Work
5PM to 9PM – Spend time with family
10PM – 11PM – Work
Saturday
5AM-7AM – Gym
7AM – 1PM – Family Time
1PM – 4PM – Wood Working
4PM – 9PM – Family Time
Sunday
All-day – Family Time
Follow Through it
It’s always easier said than done. Having a family myself, balancing everything else is extremely difficult. Reviewing your calendar frequently, try to stick to the plan that you’ve created. Your best chance of success is to work the program and stay on the schedule consistently. Over time it will get more comfortable, and you will find ways natural schedule shifts that will benefit you. Always, have fun with it.