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Why Do You Go To Work?

October 9, 2013
Time Card

Photo Courtesy of Marcin Wichary.

There are very few things that you have to do in life. You have to eat, drink, and take care of yourself in order to survive but other than that there really isn’t anything that you have to do.

With that, why do you go to work? Is it because you enjoy it or because you need a pay check? If the answer is because you need a check I think you might need to look a little deeper as to the reason you go.

I am an advocate of doing work that you love. There really needs to be more of a reason to go to work than just to trade your time for money. You should enjoy what you do and find deeper meaning in going to work. If you don’t then it may be time to look for another line of work.

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Martin Luther King Jr.

You have the choice to go to a job you hate tomorrow or to look for another job. If you do not enjoy your current employment then come up with an exit plan over the next 60 days. Put in applications, make phone calls and once you secure a job doing something you find meaning put in your notice and go do good work that matters to you.

Question: What is something that gives your current job meaning?

Filed Under: Business, Life Coaching, Motivational, People, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , ,

I Don’t Have Time To Exercise

September 23, 2012
Plank

Photo courtesy of Hector Alejandro.

Many say they do not have time to exercise (among other things). I will admit that this has been one of my faults in the past. There was always something else that was “more important” at the time. However, last week something came to mind out of nowhere when I was getting ready for work.

I started doing some math and figured if you exercise three times per week for 30 minutes each day that equals 78 hours which is 3.25  days per year.  If you exercise from the age of 18 until age 70 at the three day/30 minute interval that equals 169 days.

A doctor I saw a few years ago told me if I did not drop some weight I could take 20 years off of my life.  So the realization that popped in my head that morning is that by not exercising for those 169 days I could possibly lose 7,300 days via an early death by a controllable factor.  I prefer to choose the exercise over the other outcome!

Of course, the numbers are different depending on what age you start your workouts and hopefully you’ll never be in a condition where you need to stop.  Imagine being one of the people you see on television that are running marathons in their 90s!

 

Filed Under: Fitness, Life Coaching, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , ,

New Year’s Eve 2011

December 31, 2011

Happy New YearIs it really that time again?

A lot of people will set their resolutions this weekend on how they are going to be better or improve their life next year.  I hope you have already set your goals and you are prepared for what the new beginning has in store for you.

A new year is not the only time to make changes in your life.  Review your goals throughout the year so you can recommit to them.  Many resolutions never get completed and that is because they are out of sight out of mind.  Review your resolutions/goals/wants regularly and achieve what you are looking to achieve.

Here is hoping that 2012 brings the happiness and purpose you want in your life and we will see you next year!

Filed Under: Goal Setting, Life Coaching, Time Management Tagged With: , , , ,

99 Days Until Christmas

September 17, 2011

Disney ChristmasIt is 99 days until Christmas! I know, I know but I want to tell you a secret. Come closer to your screen and listen closely. Ready? It is possible to go through the holiday season without time or financial stress.

Really, it is possible. There are only two things you really need to do it and that is a calendar and a budget.

Calendar

I recommend you look online for a printable monthly calendar.  Print out September, October, November, and December.  Pick an afternoon within the next week (or right now) and right out all of the things that will come up over the next 3 1/2 months:  birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, church events, appointments, etc.  Once completed lay them all out in front of you.  You have just relieved a hefty part of that stress if you will keep this handy and look at it daily.

Remember to add new things as they come along such as your kid’s school functions and parties so you know when everything is.  This helps get these dates out of your mind and put somewhere that you will look.  It reduces a lot of stress and that dreaded feeling that you are forgetting something.

Calendar Part 2

Now that you have the events on your calendar you know you need to attend or do something for now you need to set dates to complete the tasks involved with them.  It is really easy:

  1. Go through and look at each event.  On a separate sheet write down what events you will need to complete a task for.  Example:  Samantha’s Birthday.
  2. Beside the event write down what tasks needs to be completed.  Example: Samantha’s Birthday – Purchase Gift
  3. Return to your calendar and choose a date that is your deadline for purchasing the gift.  I would suggest at least three weeks out in order to retain the low level of stress that I hope your calendar has allowed you to have.

This simple task should not take you more than an hour to complete for most people.  It gives you a goal – yes, you just set goals for one of the busiest times of the year.  This will allow you to have your grocery shopping for Thanksgiving and Christmas done a week or two in advance, your shopping completed before the holiday gets here, and most importantly allows you to spend time with your family near the holiday instead of running around.

Budget

The dreaded word has peaked it’s head out!  However, a budget can be an extremely easy tool to put together and again should not take more than an hour get finished.

All you need to do is figure out how much you are willing to spend for each event.  Take that amount and divide it by the number of paydays you have until your deadline to have the tasks completed and now you know how much to save from each check.  If you do not already do this the first year may be a little hit or miss but starting December 26 you need to prepare for next year and take a little out of every check.  This saves you from having to come up with all the money at the last minute or worse yet paying for the holidays with credit cards so they follow you into next year.

Need more help?

100 Days to ChristmasOne of my favorite places to find pages to help keep me organized is List PlanIt.  The woman who runs the site is Jennifer Tankersley and she wrote an ebook called 100 Days to Christmas which outlines action items to do each day for 100 days leading to December 25th.

It is only $4.99 and I highly recommend picking this up.  If you have trouble staying on task or would like an easy to follow guide to make your holiday season even less stressful then take a look.

Purchase the book here.

Bonus part of the book is Jennifer includes the planning pages (including the calendar pages mentioned above) from List PlanIt so you have everything you need to have one of the best holiday seasons you have ever had.

Filed Under: Organization, Time Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Opportunity Cost

September 10, 2011
Friedrich von Wieser

Friedrich von Wieser - Developer of the Opportunity Cost Theory

When you choose to do something there is always a cost.  If you decide to get up at 6am instead of sleep in you have cost yourself sleep but gained more time awake which could mean more productivity.  Such things are referred to as opportunity cost.

We all have a finite amount of time.  When we choose to do something the cost is that we cannot get that time back and therefore have lost that time to do something else.  We all have 168 hours in a week and if we choose to watch television for 40 of those hours then that is 40 hours we cannot get back to exercise, read, work, or anything else.

Want to get more productive time out of your day and lower your opportunity cost?  Set up a time budget much like you would your household financial budget.  See where time is being wasted or could be used better.  This can help you improve outlook, reduce stress, and increase your productivity both at work and at home.

 

Filed Under: Time Management Tagged With: , ,

Time Management

September 3, 2011

Randy PauschFinding enough time in our lives is hard.  I have mentioned before about having 168 hours in your week and one way to get more time is to plan.  Another way is to watch the lecture below and learn.

Giving the lecture is Professor Randy Pausch.  You are likely to remember the name as he is the author of “The Last Lecture” which was released in 2008.  The premise of the last lecture in the academic world is to give the professors a chance to answer “If you could only give one final lecture before you pass what would you tell the world?”  Unfortunately this was more true for Randy Pausch as he had pancreatic cancer at the time he wrote his.

The following video is another lecture he gave during this same time frame on time management.  What better way to learn about time management than from someone who has not choice but to prioritize?

Filed Under: Life Coaching, Time Management Tagged With: , ,

Indecision

August 27, 2011

IndecisionHave you ever had a hard time making a decision?  Has the delay in making one cost you something (time, money, job promotion, etc)?  In my job I have seen it cost all of these things to people and it was simply because they could not make up their mind.

Indecision can effect you and your loved ones, cost you opportunities in your home and work life, and keep your mind occupied so you cannot focus on tasks.  No matter whether your need to make a career decision or what to eat for dinner a delay can cost you.

Dan Miller in his book “48 Days to the Work You Love” says that he and his wife limit themselves to a two week window to make any kind of decision.  To help make their decisions they have a 5 step process:

  1. State the problem.
  2. Get the advice and opinions of others.
  3. List the alternatives.
  4. Choose the best alternative.
  5. Act.

And just like your third grade teacher telling you during those standardized tests that if you don’t know the answer 100% to take the first one that came to your mind, that can be good advice here.  In many instances your first thought of the right answer is going to be what is good for you.  Don’t make your decision based on your first assumption but look at that as a really good starting point and work from there.

Being able to make a decision is just as important as having goals and dreams.  If you have a dream and cannot decide whether or not to act upon it then where does that leave you?

Photo courtesy of spaceamoeba.

Filed Under: Life Coaching, Time Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Not Enough Time?

August 6, 2011

clockIf you are like many people I know you never have enough time to do everything you need to do. I see it all the time on social media that there just isn’t enough time to do _____________.  Why is it so many people feel this way?  It is because not enough people plan their time.

Everyone in the world has the same amount of time in a week.  168 hours in fact.  Now, if you are working full time deduct 40 hours from that and it leaves you 128 hours.  Remove 8 hours per night for sleeping (if in fact you sleep that much) and that gives you 72 waking hours during the week to do what you want to do.

If you are working a 5 day work week that means you have two days off.  Minus time for sleep that gives you 32 hours on your off days for the week.  How do you make the most of this time?  Try the “Rule of 3.”

The”Rule of 3″ is simple but you’ll have to make an effort to plan for it until it becomes habit.  Laura Vanderkam describes her rules in this way:

So here’s the rule of three for weekends: plan three meaningful, enjoyable things, beyond life maintenance, that you intend to do on the weekend. There will be different for everyone, but could look like this:

  • Go for a run, have date night dinner, go to church
  • Volunteer at food bank, meet friend for coffee, go for a family hike
  • Visit an art museum, take kid bowling, go for bike ride
  • Go to a birthday party, have a picnic, do weight-lifting session

That sounds incredibly simple right?  Simple doesn’t mean easy but if you plan your time, set the goal, and make it a habit then the simply becomes easy.

In This Post: Laura Vanderkam is the author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think and writes a blog at my168Hours.com

Filed Under: Time Management Tagged With: , ,