Monthly Archives: August 2015
I’m Failing with Time Management
I’m realizing I can’t do it all. My ambitions are great and that’s not a bad thing. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the week.
Last week there was a lot going on. Work at Disney, a trip out of town to celebrate my anniversary with my wife, my consultation work.
The night before I left town, I had three major tasks that I wanted to complete. If I were to do them, I would have had no sleep at all before heading out the door the next day with Kate.
Something had to give. I had to let those tasks go. They weren’t going to be completed because I had run out of time.
I have this card hanging in my bathroom with words I heard from Jon Acuff:
I’m not following these guidelines right now.
It’s frustrating. Why can’t I do it all?
Once my emotions calmed down, I’ve had to admit I have a major time management problem. I’ve not been getting a full night’s sleep, or having ample time to pray in the morning, or exercise, or go over our home budget… something’s wrong.
I’m going to have to say “no” to things. For my sanity, for my health. I’m not leaving margin for the unexpected and squeezing something into every nook and cranny of available time is not a way to live. I’ll keep you updated as I work through this and hopefully I can pass along some useful information that you can use as well.
Do me a favor, join in the conversation on my Facebook page and leave tips that work for you when it comes to time management. Maybe we can learn something from each other.
Family Time Needs To Win Over My Time
One of the things that I have realized is so precious is my time. What has been eye-opening recently is that my time is not my own.
Sure, I have sections of it in the day that are specifically for me: my morning prayer, writing and exercise; my commute to work.
But time in my home is also my family’s time. The time when I get to (not “have to”) share myself with my wife Kate and our sons.
There are many things trying to pull me away from that. My work,my career transition, all the crazy thoughts, ambitions and dreams rolling around in my head.
I have to keep the important things important. I have to make a stand. There’s been a slow shift in our culture that seems to not respect personal time or family time. Emails or phone calls or overtime.
I read an interesting article about the challenging environment at Amazon that encourages completely diving into work. Some fathers at Amazon said they considered quitting because of pressure from bosses to spend less time with their families.
I don’t think I’ve got a problem with that. Our lives are meant to be well rounded and full. It’s not about working ourselves to the brink of a nervous breakdown to get more money or to stave off a firing. I also don’t think that it’s meant for us to come home at night, plop into a lazy boy, drink beer and watch 5 hours of television at night.
I think it’s about sharing our days with each other and talking about things that members of the family did. Or how they’re feeling. Or what they may be working through.
I’m very grateful that Kate consistently makes sure we have a sit down family dinner in our home. It has always been a wonderful way to connect with each other. I think as I continue on this journey, I’m willing to sacrifice a few of those ambitions or projects to make sure that the family is intact. Because that is the greatest gift that I have been given stewardship over and I want to treat my family with the respect, attention and love they deserve.
For more on this subject of family time, listen to my recent podcast of The Discussion with co-host Jeremy Van Cleave.
A Story of Hope (Forward Fridays)
You may be in challenging circumstances in your life, but sometimes ideas come out of left field that can change the game…
John D’Eri ‘s son Andrew has autism. John knew that at 22, Andrew would age out of the education system. He wanted a future where Andrew could live a life, not just sit in a room where people took care of him.
John and his other son Tom came up with an idea for Andrew and other adults with autism that is truly inspirational.
Click here to read this incredible story.
Season 1 Episode 6 Breaking the Cycle of Stinking Thinking (Podcast)
We all have moments where we feel bad. It’s only human. But what happens when you’re stuck in a cycle of negative thinking?
How do you get out of it? Kevin and Jeremy talk about techniques you can use to break the cycle of stinking thinking so you can breakthrough to the next level of your life.
Listen below or click here to download subscribe. Or automatically subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher
It’s Just a Moment
As summer is winding down, and even though I’m in my forties, my feelings seemed tied to my patterns as a kid. Summer ending meant one thing… school was starting back up.
The fall has its own excitement and activities, but the idea of starting up the fall schedule again was always a little depressing.
I’ve been going through it the last few days. I’ve come off vacation and I’m trying to get back into the swing of things.
Even though some of those feelings from my childhood want to set up camp in my head, I have to remember something very important….this is just a season.
These feelings aren’t going to last forever. I’ll get back in my groove and shake it off.
Also, you can’t know what the good times are like if you don’t have the bad times.
You need the savory in your life so you can experience the sweet.
I also have to appreciate that I’m growing in my spirit. I’m handling these feelings much better than I used to. These feelings of gloom used to stick around for weeks. Now, I only experience them for a few days.
I’ll keep practicing gratitude and slowly, but surely do my work. Before I know it, I’ll be so immersed in my next great adventure, I’ll have forgotten that I felt this way at all.
It’s just a moment in time before I move on to the next one.
The Benefits of the Attitude of Gratitude (Forward Fridays)
I had a wonderful week off with my family. I needed it.
As I was getting ready to go back to work, I started to feel a bit down in the dumps. Fortunately, I realized something.
I’m a blessed man. I’m so grateful for my family, my friends, my work. It ain’t that bad. Even when I’ve been in challenging situations with projects, it’s been important to remember the things to be grateful for.
With that said I wanted to share this article that discusses the benefits of gratitude.
http://happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/
Spend some time today reflecting on what you’re grateful for and feel free to share it here and with others.
Season 1 Episode 5 Claiming the Sacred Space (Podcast)
With so much noise in our lives, we’ve got to find a place that’s ours.
A place where we can refresh, focus and connect to the work we want to be doing. Claiming that sacred space is the focus of this week’s Discussion with Kevin and Jeremy as they talk about why it’s important to have a space and how you can find it.
You can listen here or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher
Breaking the Cycle of Stinking Thinking
I used to dread mornings.
I would wake up feeling as if I had no rest the night before and had no energy to face the tasks ahead of me for the day.
What mainly contributed to this feeling was that I was stuck in an uncreative and depressing cycle.
I was stretched thin between work, family and extra unnecessary commitments. There was very little time to do the things I wanted to do. Nor was I giving my family the proper attention they needed.
I believed that if I worked as hard as I did doing the frustrating, mind numbing chores or things that no one else wanted to do, someone would show up and save me.
A declaration would be made from on high. An awesome demi-god would arrive in my home!
He would declare that I have done everything I needed to do and now time would be set aside so that I could work without a care in the world on the projects I wanted to work on. More