I think it's fitting to begin this blog series with the truth. I desire balance. I seek balance. I love the idea of balance. However, actually achieving balance is something I struggle with daily. Each day is a battle between what I want to do and what must be done. Can anyone relate?
Today is a good example. I am traveling on Friday to Israel for the day job. There are alot of things that I must do in order to prepare for this trip (I will not bore you with a detailed list). My flight leaves in the morning, so in essence, I only have today and tomorrow to complete all of these tasks. As the time to prepare grows shorter, the pressure grows more intense. With pressure comes procrastination and so the pressure builds even more. If I'm being honest (and I am) even this blog post is a way to put off the things that must be done.
And what about the things I WANT to do? My husband and I just returned from a weekend in New York. As you can imagine, this trip sparked a tremendous amount of creative ideas that are just dying to get expressed. Will there be any room for that in the time I have before my next trip?
Advice I Would Give to Me if I Were Not Me
Here's your plan of attack:
- On your white board, make two lists of what must be done prior to your trip on Friday. One list should have all of the day-job related tasks that need to be completed (emails to send, phone calls to make, projects to complete, etc.). The other list should have all of the non-day-job related tasks (bills to pay, things to pack, errands to run, etc.).
- Since time is so short, try to assign a time when you will work on/complete each of these tasks (note that some can overlap, like laundry and email). Note: when assigning times for these tasks, plan to schedule all of them prior to 6 p.m. so that your evening hours are free. Since you typically wake prior to 6 a.m. each day, this shouldn't be much of a problem.
- After 6 p.m. is the time to "reward" yourself for all of the things you were able to accomplish. This is when you get to do the things you WANT to do (paint, create, etc).
I will leave you with this quote:
"Well done is better than well said" - Ben Franklin
This plan means nothing if it is not executed. I can do this. I will do this. Here's to my (and your) productivity!
Posted in Thoughts on BALANCE.
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