When you want something done

Make It Happen Tipsheet
Career Management and Life Balance

When you want something done, give it to a busy person...

A recently promoted executive confided in me that the pressure of time was increasingly difficult to manage: especially the conflicts between work and home responsibilities. This is a very common issue - not just to the recently promoted, but to most people who are serious about their career - and their family. One approach to solving the conundrum is to master your schedule - and not let it master you.

Consider these ideas:

1) Schedule one hour for yourself each day: turn off the Blackberry, the cell phone, computer, and do something just for yourself. This may mean spending time with your family, playing an instrument, or doing some exercise. This is most effective if it is at the same time each day, so that those around you learn not to disturb you at that time.

2) Schedule one day each week when you do not work. Again, this may mean spending time with your family, playing an instrument, or doing some exercise. The key is to schedule the time, and be strict about it. (Interestingly, in the "olden days", people used to call this a day of rest.)

3) Schedule at least one week for yourself each year, where you do not work at all. In the olden days, people used to call this a "vacation". For myself, I tend to schedule vacations where email and cell-phones don't reach: hiking through the mountains, touring overseas, etc.

This distance from work - one hour, one day, one week - allows you to do two important things: connect to what's important to you, and recharge yourself for a successful career.

And what to do with the stuff that "would have been done" in your scheduled time off? Well, if you want something done, give it to a busy person: in this case, yourself.

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NOTE: On Jan 17th and Jan 31st we will be running a special evening workshop on Work-Life Balance, in the downtown Toronto area.
Register at www.LeavingTheMotherShip.com.

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http://www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com
For Corporations: Tools for Increasing Employee Retention

http://www.LeavingTheMotherShip.com
Author's Book Site on Career Planning for individuals

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