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E-Quipped to... Get Rid of “Work-Life Balance”

It’s January… A new year. A fresh start. A time of making decisions and resolutions for the year ahead.

What is 2022 going to be for you? Another year of busy-ness, stress and life rushing by? Or the opportunity to do more of the things that are most important to you and which you really enjoy?

Will you actually schedule time to do the important things this year? Or will yet another year slip by?

One day…
Or
Day one?
You decide.

Usually we talk about trying to achieve a “work-life balance”. The very phrase is an interesting one because it implies that work is separate from life and that we can balance the two.

But think about it… On the one side there is work, sitting all on its own and on the other side there is the physical, mental, spiritual, environmental, interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of life which all get dumped together as “life”.

The imbalance is obvious – one versus many - and yet we still aim to give an equal amount of time to both sides. It can’t be done - and striving for it just sets us up for failure.

Rather than thinking about how much time we spend on work versus the other aspects of our lives, it would be more helpful to think about what we are including in our lifestyle. Are we including all the things that are important and necessary for our health and wellbeing? If not, we will merely be filling our days with frantic busy-ness on a path to physical and mental illness.

This is where the Yearlong Time-Blocked Calendar becomes a very useful tool. The concept of the yearlong time-blocked calendar is that you consider what is really important to you (Read The Rocks, Pebbles and Sand Story), in all the different aspects of your life (Read The Wellbeing Wheel) and then deliberately schedule time for them in your calendar to ensure that they all get time and attention over the course of a year.

My article Do it all… With a Yearlong Time-Blocked Calendar gives a full explanation of the yearlong time-blocked calendar concept, as well as a step by step guide to help you create your own yearlong time-blocked calendar. I encourage you to read it. Here is a brief summary:

Use a Digital Calendar App rather than pen and paper, so you have easy access to features like repeat, different colours, the ability to share calendars and the ability to overlay various other calendars.

Prepare Your Thinking and Intentions by reading the following articles:

• The Rocks, Pebbles and Sand Story – to help you think about what is most important in your life.
• The Wellbeing Wheel – to assess whether each aspect of your life is receiving enough time and attention to ensure optimal wellbeing.
• Out With “Work-Life Balance” and In With “An Integrated Life” – to understand the overall concept of what you are trying to achieve by having a yearlong time-blocked calendar.

Consider Your Personality. Whatever your personality, you can use the yearlong time-blocked calendar in a way that works for you.

Block off Large Chunks of Time. Don’t mess about with putting down a few minutes each to do a whole lot of different things. Keep your blocks to 30 minutes minimum and combine related tasks if necessary.

Meetings etc. must include time to get there, time to set yourself up, time for an overrun and time to pack up and travel back.

Build up Your Blocks in a Specific Order. Create your yearlong time-blocked calendar by following the steps in order. Remember you want to get your ‘rocks’, the most important things, in place first.

• Step 1 - Block off enough hours of sleep for you for every night of the year.
• Step 2 - Block off time for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.
• Step 3 - If you work, block off your contracted hours from the start to the end of the work day for the year.
  If you are a student, then block off lecture times and self-study hours for the year.
• Step 4 - Block off the important annual or bi-annual events for the year.
• Step 5 - Block off important monthly events for the whole year.
• Step 6 - Block off your weekly events for the whole year.
• Step 7 - Block off your daily events for the whole year.
• Step 8 - Block off hourly work/ lecture and self-study tasks and activities for the whole year.  Fill in exactly what you are going to do within your work/study blocks (from Step 3).

Tip: Use different colours to show the different aspects of your life.

Ongoing Planning. In order to use your yearlong time-blocked calendar most efficiently, follow the approach that:

• The year is not done until next year is planned.
• The month is not done until next month is planned.
• The week is not done until next week is planned.
• The day is not done until tomorrow is planned.

“You don’t need more time in your day. You need to decide.”
- Seth Godin

Wishing you all the best for a fully integrated, meaningful and fulfilling 2022.

Regards

About These Emails

You may have been forwarded this email by a friend. In that case, allow me to introduce myself. I am a psychologist, speaker, trainer, coach and hat lover based in Kloof, a suburb of Durban, South Africa. I also do online counselling and coaching and I have clients all over the world.

On my website you'll find lots of free articles, posters and worksheets. I have written and created them all with the intention of helping you find your inner winner. Read, them use them, share them!

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