People often ask me how I manage to accomplish so much, given my busy life and career. I often ask myself the same question, when I am reflecting upon how far I have come in life. As well as working, I managed to complete a Masters degree last year, have learned bass guitar (in the last 4 years) to the point where I can play in a band with professional musicians, have a large garden/allotment, run my own business and still find time to write blogs and articles for magazines and journals. As a coach when I talk to people one of the biggest issues that I hear is work life balance and lack of fulfilment.
From the perspective of fitting lots of things into a 7 day week, it looks daunting… however, if you change the perspective you get a sense of how it works. Everything I do I am passionate about and give 110%. However I am also deeply curious and have a life long love of learning. Hence I find ‘newness’ and challenge energising. Also, when I have 10 minutes down-time instead of slouching in front of the television or computer, I will pick up the guitar and do some practice on that riff that I am not yet quick enough on. When you are doing things you love, it doesn’t seem tiring – of course I do like to chill out with a beer on a Saturday evening like everyone else! I don’t consciously plan everything I do in a day, though I have been told I am incredibly well organised, and am not an email or Facebook junkie (these really sap attention in an unpredictable way)… but I do find that the old adage is true “a change is as good as a rest”.
Instead of asking me how I manage to pack so much into a day, perhaps you should ask yourself what you are doing with your time? What could you change (do more/less of) that would increase your performance at work or your satisfaction with life? Everything can be changed and if you don’t feel you are accomplishing what you could be in your career or personal life, take a long hard look in the mirror and be honest with yourself – you might even want to review this with a coach who can “hold your feet to the fire”. Change takes effort and so does success.
Do you need help with your work life balance? Are you living a life that fires you up with passion? If not, you might benefit from some coaching. Or you may know someone who would?
This post was originally posted by Peter Duffell on LinkedIn.
