Reaching a life/work balance

I remember seeing an ad somewhere. It featured a father pushing a swing. In the swing, instead of a child was a laptop and his child was actually standing behind him hands on hips, wondering what was up. The message asked “Are you spending too much time with your computer?” Is that like a total wake up call or what? Well I guess it is if you have kids or a spouse. I feel that way sometimes. Actually, I feel that way often.

On the one hand, it’s a good thing because that means I’ve got plenty of work. On the other hand it means I’m missing out on family time, personal time and enjoying all the things that living in Southern California has to offer.

It’s hard not to spend that time on the computer–everything I do is on the computer. I arrange my music there, I pay my bills, I take notes, I look up phone numbers, I edit photos, I store and file information, and I keep in touch with people–all on the computer. Breaking away sometimes feels impossible.

In order to achieve that life/work balance I had to put my foot down and stick to a schedule. Creating a schedule of some sort is the best way to make sure you keep things in perspective. It sounds terrible doesn’t it? You know, “penciling in” your family or personal time, but it makes a lot of sense. What it does is it forces you to set aside time in the pursuit of all that is enjoyable in life.

Your schedule doesn’t have to be anything too ultra-organized. The one key is this:

CREATE SOMETHING THAT YOU WILL STICK TO

You can enter it into your smart phone’s note app or even write it on the back of an envelope. Whatever you do keep some sort of calendar that allows you to set blocks of time in which you shut off the computer and devote time to your family. Soon, you won’t have to look at your schedule it will be built in and you’ll be on your way to a better life/work balance.

That’s it for this post I need to get up early and spend time with my family. My goal right now is to start getting up early and spending those brilliant early morning starts with my family rather than checking in with my cyber life first thing. What’s going to be your goal for a better balance?