Work Life Balance & Time Management
If you take time out of your day today and write down these 8 categories of life you will maximize your output and enjoy your life to the fullest. It seems everyone is too busy nowadays. When I tell them that this is how billionaires manage their work life balance what I am really saying is “so you think your busier then a billionaire eh?” If they can schedule these in you can. Do this and you will become more successful in all aspects of your life. Don’t start this next week. Start this now.
Being in the construction world it’s all about time management. Everything needs to go into a calendar. Work and personal. EVERYTHING goes into a calendar. People are mislead when they say they want to be an entrepreneur because they can do what ever they want. Freedom. No one is telling them what to do or bossing them around. Well they are wrong.
Your calendar will be telling you what you are doing. And guess what? You do it. There is no faster way to fail at a business then to think you can go about your day and see where the day takes you. It will take you to failure. This is the only way we can be our best selves. Efficient, healthy, productive and accomplished individuals. If you run a business, work for someone or are retired, these tips will help bring structure to your life and help you live life to the fullest.
But before we begin we need to give each of the 8 categories below a frequency:
- Daily
- Weekly
- Bi Weekly
- Monthly
Each of these will have a place in your schedule. The purpose is to make sure everything fits into your calendar on a monthly basis. For categories like personal, you may schedule physio or a haircut once a month. For items like business you may have daily repetitive tasks scheduled at a specific time. Maybe you check business emails every morning. For family maybe you schedule a date with your partner once a week or call a family member or friend every other week. This keeps you on top of all important categories of your life and provides you with a balanced life both physically, emotionally and spiritually.
1. Personal
This category is booking a massage or a hair cut once a month. Maybe you schedule a chiropractor session or get your nails done. Whatever is important to keep you feeling great. Often times we find ourselves so busy we have someone tell us we need a haircut and then it hits us like a ton of bricks. We have been neglecting ourselves giving too much attention to something else. Normally, it is our business or work or a project we can’t stop or are behind in. Nothing will get us more behind than added stress and lack of personal nurture.
2. Professional Development
Everyone should aim to be the best versions of themselves and that means learning or sharpening our skills. This can be something that helps us with our business or promotes us in our careers. This can be listening to audiobooks, reading, taking a course, joining or participating in a networking group or simply coaching or mentoring others.
3. Business
Whether it is our business or our career these will take up the majority of our time. At least 8-10 hours of it so we need to make sure that what we schedule in those hours gets done so we can give all our focus on these other categories of life. Develop a routine from am to pm. You do not want an 8 hour chaotic day where you are all over the place. You will forever be anxious. Schedule in your meetings, reviews and daily business tasks.
4. Family
From date night, to family outings, vacations and special occasions. These need to be scheduled in once a week, every other week or once a month depending on your circumstances. All too often family falls apart due to bringing work home with you. This is fine so long as it is managed and mutually discussed with a partner. In this category we are talking about complete distractions from work and 100% attention on family. Movie nights, bike rides and fun activities.
5. Hobbies
Everyone should have a hobby. Pretty much as long as it is not work we are on the right track. Do you golf, skydive, play a musical instrument or mountain bike? Do you play chess, enjoy solving the rubiks cube or paint? Whatever it is this is your outlet. This can be something that builds friendships, makes you socialize outside of work or simply takes your mind off of the worries of work stress or family stress. We will go crazy especially if work and personal is chaotic as it all often is. Families suffer losses and challenges and when work isn’t going well at the same time this can be a perfect storm. Hobbies help restore the positive hormones like serotonin and dopamine and reduce cortisol the bodies stress hormone.
6. Home
This normally involves a lot of chores or as I like to call them mini wins. Home wins are just as much as the next thing because a clean home is a clean car is a clean office is a clean mind. You know the saying. It is important to schedule partial cleans and full cleans. Maybe you hire a cleaning company to come in once a month for a deep clean. Eating habits, meal prep and grocery shopping is another item that needs attention. Cleaning out the fridge. You know all those old items hidden in the back? When it comes to health we know it starts in the kitchen so scheduling meals and cooking can really increase our health, stamina and lower anxiety and depression now that we are eating healthy and in a clean and organized home.
7. Physical
We should all workout. Even if it is one walk a day. Scheduling a workout for yourself will depend on your (these) to-do’s. Mornings are great because for the rest of the day you feel accomplished. Have pets? Great. Schedule your daily walks and don’t forget that one special day a week you take your dog out. Maybe it is a favourite beach to throw the ball or the dog park. Schedule it in!
8. Financial
Dealing with payroll, paying bills, dealing with invoices, accounting and budgeting. This can tie in a bit with business however there will be a large portion that is personal. It is always good to stay on top of banking, visa statements, investments and credit. This should take place at least once a week. Schedule it in so you do not fall behind as that is where important variances or lost opportunities can get missed.
Mavish Homes can help you created a home the allows you to work towards a better work life balance. There is no better time to start than right now.