So many people seeking inner peace and simplicity also mention that they are seeking a balance between work and life. I was greatly encouraged by Adrian Savage's article "Slow Leadership: The Plain Truth About Work/Life Balance" (sadly, no longer on the web). It really struck a chord with me. His five truths are:
-
-
Do you have people on your task list? My then-five-year-old spotted her name at the top of my task list. She wanted to know what it meant, and I explained to her that it was there so I would make sure to play with her.
-
Software abuse is when you take a program and make it do things it was never intended to do. This often results in slow computers, incomplete data, and bad analysis. It also means poor productivity.
-
As often happens when I realize I have overloaded myself again, I recently began to think about things I could say no to in my life. Saying NO is essential if I want to keep going on the things I want to say YES to. I need to be very clear on what I want and be able to keep all else out.
-
Our society doesn't condition us to say no. But it becomes necessary if you want to get a grip on an overcrowded schedule and/or task list.
-
Keep your head where your feet are. Be present. You might be surprised at how much difference it can make.
-
When I really need to blast through a lot of work, but really don't want to, I use the (10+2) * 5 method invented by Merlin Mann. It's a modified Pomodoro method, but instead of 20 minute work sessions followed by a 5 minute break, it shortens both work and break times. I prefer (10+2)*5 to Pomodoro because the 10 minute start seems do-able, whereas the 20 minute block often seems insurmountable.
-
One of the most useful things I have learned to do over the course of my professional career is to organize project notes. Not only does this allow me to tell you where the status of any piece of my work is at a given point, but it also allows me to revisit the items when questions arise after the work is completed.These days I use a Bullet Journal. I also have used OneNote, Evernote, and a personal wiki to do the same thing. I believe that this general system can be used no matter how you track it.
-
Tonight I was completely spun up, running around on a hamster wheel. A busy week that seems to have no end, task lists that keep growing, having to fight a few battles that were necessary but still took a lot out of me, little sleep, and dealing with a bunch of vendor dumpster fires. I thought I was going to implode. So how did I get it to stop in a matter of hours?
-
I followed Flylady for many years. And felt guilty for not being able to make it work. It was a struggle for me. Was I not doing it right? Flylady would tell me the problem was me. Here are the ways Flylady doesn't work for me:
