How many of us can say we have mastered our work-life balance? Only a handful. Here are a few lessons I have learned in this area.
If I asked you to imagine your ideal life, what would it look like? What time would you wake up? When would you work? When would your work day end? What would you do on the weekends? How often would you exercise? How much time would you spend in spiritual devotion and prayer? How about reading, writing, and reflecting?
Now, let’s live in the real world when we answer these questions. I am not a proponent of the 4-hour work week dream life. To me, that’s not a dream life. I want to exercise my God-given talents to make an impact—using more than four hours per week. (This reference comes from the book The 4-Hour Work Week).
Stop here. Take time to write down what your ideal life would look like.
If you cannot write it down, if you cannot dream it, you certainly won’t be able to accomplish it. Why? Because you can’t visualize what you are trying to accomplish. If you don’t know what it looks like on paper, how can you work to accomplish it?
This may seem like simplistic advice, but it is powerful. If you want to accomplish something, in this case work-life balance, first you have to define it, almost seeing and feeling what it looks like. I don’t ascribe to the notion that once we define our vision that there is a mystical force in the universe that makes it happen. No. When you are clear as to what you want to accomplish, you will notice ways to make it happen.
About ten years ago, I sat down and wrote an agreement with myself regarding work-life balance. As a business owner and physician, being busy and productive was so fun, seductive even. But I refused to succumb to that temptation.
I agreed with myself then, and continue to work now toward the following:
- I will live in my strengths and passions.
- I will define my work day; the rest will be for my family.
- I will be present when I am not at work.
- I will be fully engaged when I am at work.
- I will not work more than 50 hours a week. (unless there’s an emergency)
- I will create memories with those I love.
Today, most of the time, I am able to fulfill these guides I set for myself. It took me a good five years to get there, but by the grace of God I got it done. It is possible that in the future something drastic may come along and knock me off course. You never know with life. But even if I am knocked off track, I know the way back.
I hope you can stop and dream for a bit. Dream about your ideal life. Write it down. You may not know how to make it happen yet. But as long as it is clearly written, you will gradually figure it out, determine how to see it through, and make it a reality.
