Finding the Right Balance for Your Life

    Some claim there is no such thing as work-life balance, just work all of the time. Others insist there is a such thing as a work-life balance. I lean towards believing there is a such thing as a work life balance. This “balance” will be different depending on who you are and what is going on in your life at the time. For example, a young professional working up the corporate ladder, an entrepreneur starting a business, a working professional who is married and has kids and getting an MBA on top of that have a very different sense of work-life balance than someone at a different stage in life. The same person will change the view of the work life balance depending on the season in his or her life.

    Personally, I have been interested in the concept of work-life balance for a very long time. I have always been very conscious with how much time I spend on working and balance it out with the other things I want to do in my life. This has changed through different times in my life and they do balance each other out. There were times when I was working full time and in school and involved with other activities and times where not so much was going on. The balance between work and “life” changed from time to time. One of the reasons this is interesting to me is that I have always had a desire to obtain things that I didn’t have. I have had many interests and desires and could not reach them because I was too busy with obligations. Maybe for you it’s not obligations, but rather just spending time on things that don’t really matter. Either way, there is a balance that is needed to accomplish the optimal use of your time, and this will change as the seasons in life change.

Why it is Important to Take Breaks

    Have you ever worked so long and hard that by the end of the day you are so tired and are unable to do anything afterwards. I’ve been there. I usually find it that later in the day when I work a long day or even a regular day without a break I get easily distracted, tired, worn out, and much less productive. I find it very valuable to take breaks during the work day. There are days where it can be challenging to take a break because we are so busy during the day. However, from my own personal observation and experience, I notice that if I don’t take a break, I am much less productive overall and have a greater need to recover the next day and so on.

    Personally for me, it is difficult to focus on any one thing for an extended period of time. I need to switch from task to task at times and then revisit the task at a later date and realize that after I return to the task, I am much more effective completing the task. I know this to be true based on my personal experience, but there are other proven theories that prove this very well.

    One well known theory is the Pomodoro Technique, which involves setting a timer for a specified amount of time to work and then set the timer for a specified amount of time to take a break. For example, you can work for 50 minutes, then take 10 minutes off, then reset over and over again through your working period. This way you know you have to focus when working is on and then you can take your breaks without guilt and be refreshed enough to work for another focused period of time. The amount of time for each segment is up to you, 25 minutes on & then 5 minutes off can work well. I’ve heard of 42 minutes on, 18 minutes off, 45 minutes on and 15 minutes off, and even 55 minutes on and 5 minutes off. You do not have to stick to one method either, you can go based on what your needs are for the day. Maybe on a day you really have a lot to do 55 on and 5 off is better, and the break times can be longer on calmer days. Like all other time management strategies, the best strategy is the one that works for you.

    Other ways taking breaks can help you become more productive is that they can reduce your stress level, can bring you more energy, allowing you step away and come back with a fresh perspective, and it is also good for your health. Sitting for long periods of time is not physically good for you, it is very important to get up and walk around and “get the blood pumping.” While taking breaks is helpful, you do also want to make sure you find the right length of time. A break that is too long will get you off track and can be detrimental because you then lose focus and have trouble getting it back. I’ve done that before as well. This can be similar to taking a nap, a nap too long can throw you off track also. Like everything else, finding the best way to take breaks is going to take practice and a lot of trial and error, but the end result will be worth it.

Why it's Important to Have Fun

    Some people are all about work. All they do is work and all they seem to be able to do is work. I am not sure if they always want to work, or are they just being driven by success or a need for success and of course also money. I know work is important and is very valuable to our goals and what we need to do. However, there needs to be some sort of balance. This balance will change over time depending on your season in life and who you are. Some of the people that I said are all about work may only be like that for a time, this may not be their personality. Nevertheless there are certainty people who are do have tendencies to being workaholics, and also people with the opposite tendency as well. Regardless of who you are, it is important to have fun and enjoy your life.

    I know I have had seasons where I was very busy and I did not have time for fun. Ultimately I ended up becoming less productive because I did not have the fun I was seeking to have nor did I have anything to look forward to. The things we enjoy and find fun give us motivation to keep working when we do have to work. I remember having a ton of school work to do for weeks and there were countless other things I’d rather do, and I would procrastinate and end up losing focus and being less productive than if I would just have had a little more fun. When I do procrastinate, I end doing things that I don’t really want to do, but still would rather do them than whatever work I am doing that I am tired from. Most frequently, this is something like going on and off social media and the Internet.

    There are plenty of ways to make enough time for fun. We don’t have to play 6 days a week or even the entire weekend to keep ourselves fulfilled. There just needs to be a balance that works for you. For me personally, at least having something fun to do Friday nights and throughout the day Saturday is normally enough for me to go the rest of the week with my work and commitments and being productive as I should. Every week varies and sometimes I do have more fun than other weeks and that will happen in life. This is why we also have vacations and getaways. While there is definitely a need for a delayed gratification, there must also be time for activities that we do enjoy throughout our years, months, weeks, and days.

Distraction Can be a Good Thing

     Ironically, distraction could sometimes be a good thing! When writing thoughts and ideas, you can almost get a fresh perspective when returning back, but of course, this is better if planned, not just at any old time. Sometimes when we step away from something and, we come back to what we were doing very productively. This can work well with someone who works well in spurts. It is also good to break up into focus periods. A big task may not be done all at once, so defining a period of time to split it up. 

     While there are occasions where unplanned distraction can help, still most of the time a distraction, especially coming from a source outside of what you are focusing on will derail you and keep you away from what you need to do. The better form of distraction to discuss here is the planned distraction. We live in a time where everyone is always getting distracted by social media, email, text messages, phone calls, etc. It is important that we do have a channel for these distractions, otherwise we will be itching to reach for our phone, itching to read something not related to what you are doing, or seeking to talk to someone else in the office/room/house, etc. Planning your “distractions” is a good strategy to be more productive. Therefore they are not distractions anymore, but are planned and scheduled activities that you value, just like anything else. It is important that we get on social media, talk to people, read things that interest us, etc. They just need to be scheduled at the right time so they don’t interfere with our productivity.

    In fact there are very good methods that actually use this practice. For example, one is the Pomodoro Technique. This is basically working for a set amount of time and then leaving another set amount of time for distraction, relaxation, doing other things that require less thoughts. For example, work 50 minutes, then off 10, then repeat again and again throughout the day. Like anything else, you need to find the balance that works best for you. Also, the entire point of this is to have an extremely focused period of time while actually working. In the above example, it’s focused work for the 50 minutes, then 10 minutes to check email, social media, check the news (if you are daring), take a walk, talk to someone if you are in an office/co-working space/place where others are present. Segmenting your time is a good thing because it gives you something to focus on. You can easily schedule whatever works however you do it, whether it’s on Google Calendar, on paper, in a planner, or whatever else works best for you. This is one option to boost productivity. Not everyone has a schedule that allows for something like this, they pretty much work non-stop except for bathroom breaks and lunch. That is how a lot of jobs do work at this time. However, if you are blessed with the ability to work with your own schedule and not have a lot of urgent items, then this is a great method to try. Let me know if any of you have tried this and what your experience has been.

Time Orientation vs Task Orientation

        Are you time orientated or task orientated? What is the difference? They are really two different personalities. For example, a time orientated person (like myself) is more concerned with how much time something takes while a task orientated person is more concerned with getting the task done. They are more likely to see time as renewable and more concerned with the actual task at hand and not concerned with how long it will take. A good way to put this is to see hourly wages (time-orientation) vs salary (task orientation). With an hourly wage, the employee is paid strictly based on the amount of time they work while a salaried employee is paid the same for the task (position). Since I am time orientated, I would prefer to be paid hourly because I then know none of my time will be spent working for free (again that’s how I view it). A task orientated person may not mind as well with that but again would not be the person to go to when it comes to actually tracking the time and finding the most efficient way.

         Of course both time orientated people and task orientated people work both salary and hourly jobs and may prefer one to the other for various reasons because there are benefits to both. Typically, higher paid positions are salary, but again, this is not always true. Also, we usually don’t have the luxury to pick which pay structure we want and if you have your own business, there will be plenty “working for free” in the beginning.

        It is important to know which one you are more like. You can be a good amount of both and there are times where it is better to be both. Please see below the table for time orientation vs task orientation based on my observation.

Time-Orientated

• Concerned with how much time the tasks take
• Keeps track of time
• Can get impatient with things taking too long
• Prefers quicker tasks, but can handle more tasks
• Faster paced

Task-Orientated

• Concerned with how many tasks
• Keep track of tasks
• Can get impatient with too many tasks
• Prefers bigger tasks and projects
• Slower paced

    Again, anyone could be a combination of both. This is just a guide to find out more of who you are. I will get more in depth about time orientation vs task orientation in a later post.

Stress and Time Management

      Stress and Time Management go together quite frequently. They come with an inverse relationship. The more you manage your time well, the less stress you have. The less you manage your time well, the more stress. Of course, managing time is not the only answer to stress, but sure can help. I can personally attest to that. The better I get at managing my time, the less stress I have in general. Life is never so easy to be stress free, but on the bright side, there will always be a challenge and therefore a drive towards getting better. That is what makes time management interesting to me. I can work on it my entire life and always improve and find a solution to something. 

       We are all well aware of the negative effects of stress. However, having too little stress is not good either because then there is no drive to improve. How to avoid getting overwhelmed is an art and takes practice. Here is a three step process that could be applied to reduce time related stress.

        First, write out a to do list or use an app. Personally, much of the stress is knowing I have a lot to do but not seeing it written out before me. The only thing in my head is "I am so overwhelmed and do not know where to begin." It is valuable to actually know what is ahead and have it mapped out. What works extremely well for me is a good to do list app. Personally, I use Nozbe (one of the most amazing apps of all time) to track everything I need to do and I get tremendous satisfaction of checking things off. I also enjoy knowing what needs to be done. This works really well for me and keeps me on track. 

       Secondly, keep a schedule. This can be in conjunction with the to do list. The to do list will tell you what you need to do and your schedule will tell you when. 

       One last thing to add to the mix is the time budget because this will tell you how much time you have. Finding an effective way to integrate the to do list, schedule, and time budget is essential. 

       This is the process that I use and it helps me maximize efficiency. Again, whatever works for you is the best. My to do list is very detailed and so is my schedule and time budget, but maybe less detailed will work better for you. This is still a work in progress for me as I write this, and I haven’t perfected it. I probably never will. I will always keep improving. This will be the same for you as well. One thing I can say for sure is that there is less stress as I continually improve my processes.

Saying No

  Have you ever met someone who seems to not understand the meaning of “no.” They are commonly referred to as the “yes man” (or woman). This may be you. I know this is not me for the most part now. While I was never a yes man, there was a time when I would say yes to more things. When I was in college, I was part of 5 different clubs and activities while being a full time student, working part time and being involved in church. It was exciting for me to see how many activities I could handle and see how many things I could be busy with. While it was a great time to get a lot of experience and more of an understanding of how the world works, I have shifted over the last several years to being much more selective about how to spend my time.

    It is important to say no to things that are not beneficial. Of course, this is easier said than done. If you are a “yesaholic”, then there are a few things you can do to help yourself. 

     For one, whenever someone asks you to do something, don’t quickly jump up and say yes (unless you know it’s something that you really want to do and would love to do). Step back and think about it and tell the person asking that you would need some time to think about it and get back to them. Of course, get back to them quickly because you don’t want to have 10 people to get back to and then you will end up missing one. 

    Another thing that could help you is to be aware of the fact that whenever you say yes to something, you are saying no to something else. Think of it this way and you will realize that you will always say no to something. Since that is the case, it is now important to determine if you are saying no to the right things. Sometimes it’s more important to say no to things that are good but not great. The better you determine what is great rather than just good in your life, the better off you are. 

    There is more power to saying no than you would think since you really can’t get away from it. In reality, it's saying "yes" wisely. You want to say "yes" to the things that are most important and "no" to the things that aren't. 

People that Waste Your Time

    There are people that simply waste your time. You probably already have someone in mind after just reading the first sentence. I know I have people in my life like this before. More often than not, a lot of people who would qualify for this award is probably no longer in your life. While cutting someone off should be the first solution, there are times when it is sometimes necessary. Also, there are times when you should distance yourself from a person at one time and reunite at a later time. 

    The first step of determining if someone is wasting your time is to do an analysis of the relationship in general. Is the relationship with this person bringing you closer to your goals or giving you energy to grow closer to them? If you don’t think the relationship is helping you, then it is time to consider the status of this relationship. This could be in reference to a co-worker, friendship, or even a family member. If the friendship is one-sided (meaning only one person is benefiting), then there needs to be reevaluation done. The first step is to talk it out and see what can be done differently. If that doesn’t seem to work out, then I would suggest less time with the person. This is especially important if they are a drain to you. Let’s also discuss what a good friendship is. 

    A good working relationship should be bringing you closer to your goals, even if it is something like an employee-employer relationship, where you as the employee get at the very least a pay check and some kind of experience (hopefully valuable). Of course depending on the industry, job, and particular company, this can look different in terms of the type of pay check, experience, and training you may receive on the job. While it is very important to have a job for income purposes and to keep yourself active, the type of job does matter. If you are at a job that you don’t like or with people you don’t like, and there isn’t any chance of it getting better and you have been trying for many months or years, than you are due for a change. There’s an adage that I came up with for a situation like this: Don't try to blow up a popped balloon.

    Of course not all people are in our lives to have a working relationship with. Others are meant to be friends and to have fun with, pursue hobbies, and relax with. These people may not help you towards a career or business goal, but are good for us to enjoy ourselves and to bring energy for when we pursue our work and other aspects of our lives. It is important to have people like this in our lives to bring us energy and give us something to look forward to.

    Some people could fall into both the “work” and “play” category at the same time, but be careful when this is the case so that the lines don’t get blurred. Also, it is possible for a person to be in the “play” category in one season and then in the “work” category at another time in life or vice a versa. It is very important to have a balance so that we can get the most out of our life. 

The Myth of Multi-Tasking

     There are a lot of different ideas out there about multi-tasking. Many people believe they can actually multi-task well. This may be true with certain tasks. For example, taking a walk and listening to a podcast can be done well. Try thinking about something unrelated to the podcast and you may realize you really weren’t listening to it at all. This happens to me often. Some things prove the danger of multi-tasking quite well. For example, look at texting and driving. OK, you may be able to do it when stopped at a red light, or even when driving, but don’t take the chance. I remember a time when I was playing a podcast, listening to music, having a webstream on, talking on the phone and on top of that doing records and studying. All I remember about that was nothing actually got accomplished. I don’t recall one thing I learned or heard or saw or talked about from that time!

   Just like computers, we should go from one task and then be able to switch to another and then back. Also, like a computer, multitasking can be ineffective (ever have 37 tabs open in a web browser, playing music and a podcast at the same time, have 5 spreadsheets and 4 word documents open, and a bunch of other miscellaneous apps open)? Yeah the computer will work but probably crash or just turn off if you do that for long. Doing too many things at once is ineffective.

     The point of all of this is to say that multi-tasking really is not much a thing we can do because even a computer may have all of these things open but we can only focus on one of the 37 tabs (or two with a double screen) at time. Just as computers lose efficiency as too many programs are running, we do the same thing. 

    This isn’t just true for simultaneous tasks either. If my to do list has 289 items on it for my job (Luckily that's in total and is not all the same day!), I get overwhelmed and much less productive because I am stressed out and overwhelmed. The ability to focus on one thing at a time is invaluable. I find it difficult to be overwhelmed with tons of tasks from different directions. In a company, employees that are overwhelmed feel paralyzed in terms of productivity and this causes the overall company productivity to drop if everyone is managed the same way. For the bosses/managers-if you are reading this, please take note that employees are most productive when they are given a manageable amount of tasks that is possible to accomplish. I know this can be a challenge for you to know, especially if your employees don't communicate that they are overwhelmed.

    Just like anything else, everyone is different. So if you are really good at multitasking certain tasks, go ahead and do them that way. But also take note that if listening to music while reading that book isn’t working out well, then separating the tasks is a good idea. It may also be a good idea to time a task on it’s own and then time when multi-tasking and see how much longer it takes to do the same task. For example, the day I wrote this post I was Facebook chatting with a friend and doing records at the same time. Now of course I really wasn’t. In reality, I would be doing the records, then switch to read the message and respond, then back to the records, and then to the next message, etc. It appeared to take about a third of the time longer in this particular case. 

Setting up Systems that Work

     One thing I notice when I start working at something new is that the task takes extremely long to accomplish. For example, tasks that now take five minutes used to take 30 or 45 minutes! It was such a waste of time. Part of the problem was simply not knowing what to do. The next step was once I did know what I was doing, was finding the best way to do it. As the cliche saying goes, practice makes perfect (well more like practice makes better because I believe there is always room for improvement and not really a "perfect" way to complete a task). Once comfortable with a task or procedure, the next step is to increase efficiency. This can be accomplished by setting up a system. 

    What is a system? I am glad you asked! It is whatever makes a process more efficient. Ever try to do something haphazard and all over the place? That's never the most efficient way to do something. Having a detailed schedule, managing a to do list, and writing out procedures are all examples of systems. For example, when keeping a detailed schedule, there must be some way to maintain and upkeep the schedule. It could involve making the schedule for the next day the night before, or making the schedule for the next week on Sunday night. If you are really good, a whole month in advance. Whatever works best for you is the best system. For me, it is usually the night before for the most part since my schedule can change and sometimes there are a lot of contingencies involved some days so it is somewhat difficult to plan sometimes.

      Using certain apps and programs can really help putting these systems in place. Again, whatever works best for you will be the best. For me, Google Calendar for my schedule is amazing! It syncs on every device, even on iCal for Mac and iOS calendar programs with near perfection. I use Nozbe for my To-Do list and aTimeLogger to track my time. These are all amazing tools but not the only ones, so find the ones that work best for you.

     One more thing about systems is that it is important to actually implement them. Some times it can be fun to build a system and process and then get lost in the excitement and end up not actually implementing it. If that's the case, then it is just a waste of time and pointless. I've been guilty of this before, I have put detailed and good schedules into place but not actually follow them. Even now that happens at times, usually in the morning. It really does take discipline to implement a system, not just developing it. The best thing to do is to keep persevering and tweaking until you do have something that works. Right now, getting a good schedule in place and following it consistently is something I am working on.

     There are also times when exceptions to the system in place can be a good thing. Breaking out of the routine is necessary because we are not robots. It can be beneficial to break out of our system because we can often find new ways of doing things and end up enhancing our procedures. Sometimes, I do find it better to keep my schedule open or not make a schedule at all and sort of unwind. Don’t become a prisoner to your system but feel free to change it and even completely do away with it if it is something that is no longer working for you. That way you can create another system that will work better.