Tips for balancing your responsibilities and well-being

#4 | 6 August 2024

Tips for balancing your responsibilities and well-being

Design your days with intention

Many of us have more things to do than we have time for. When life is demanding, it’s essential to get clear about our priorities and be intentional with the 24 hours we have each day. Remember to put things that contribute to your health near the top of your list! These things will have a positive impact on everything else you do.

Identify your priorities

What tasks or areas of life are crucial for your well-being and success? I think of these priorities as “big rocks.” I learned this analogy many years ago from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. If you’re unfamiliar with this concept (heck, even if you are), watch the video: Big Rocks (4 min).

What are your big rocks? Make a list and rank them in order of importance. It’s time to fill your bucket (and calendar) with your biggest rocks (priorities) first. When you do that, you’ll be doing what’s important to you and the other stuff will manage to find some space here and there. But it doesn’t work the other way around. Don’t fill your time with unimportant things, leaving no room for your priorities.

Avoid being too general with items such as “work.” Think about your goals and what specific tasks will help you progress toward those goals—and what won’t. What action will produce the biggest results? Focus on that.

Use a calendar to schedule your time

Once you know your priorities, use a digital calendar to schedule time for those things. You can also have a to-do list (I’m pretty attached to my weekly checklist), but using a list is not enough because it doesn’t represent our finite time the way a calendar does.

On your calendar, you will likely have very time-specific commitments, like meetings, classes, and events. Around those items, block time for the other “big rocks” in your life. Remember to include breaks and allow for transition time between tasks.

A calendar provides a visual representation of your time. Plus, assigning a specific block of time for a task means you’re committing to work on it. Having your priorities on a calendar can also help you make decisions and say no to things that don’t fit.

Keep in mind that where you schedule items in your day can be critical. I’ve neglected exercise for a long time and recently realized it needs to be a high priority (let’s call it a huge rock). Yet, it’s too easy to skip this effort at the end of the day when I’m tired and would rather do other things. I need to schedule exercise earlier in the day so it happens.

Be sure to plan enough time to eat (need I say, properly?) and sleep, as well. That may sound obvious, but it’s better to be intentional and give these essentials enough time. Delegation and outsourcing are great solutions for some things in life and business, but you can’t outsource eating, sleeping, or exercise. Don’t forget to block time for grocery shopping and meal prep if outsourcing those tasks is not an option for you!

Avoid multi-tasking (most of the time)

Make the best use of the time you’ve scheduled for a task. When the task calls for thinking or decision-making, multi-tasking can lead to decreased productivity and increased stress (time’s up and you’re nowhere near finished doing what you had planned to do? uh oh). Focus on one thing at a time and give it your full attention. You’ll find that you complete tasks more efficiently and with better quality.

Would I like to watch or listen to the Olympic Games while writing a newsletter? You bet, but I can’t do that effectively. On the other hand, can I learn something by listening to an audiobook, podcast, or course audio while doing the dishes or pulling weeds (relatively mindless activities)? Yes, this type of task pairing works!

When it comes to getting things done, what works for you? Reply to this email anytime and let me know. If reading this on theowlsedge.ca, subscribers can log in and leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you.