Do you spend most of your time working? Is this the life you want to live? I’m not suggesting you quit your job and stop being a responsible human being. But taking a few moments to determine if you are living to work, or working to live may help you to reprioritize. If you follow the steps below you will quickly see where you want to make improvements and how to get started. And you may be able to increase your efficiency, which will free up time for the other things you love but currently do not have time for.
The key ingredient to success is personal satisfaction. If all you are doing is working, then it is very likely that at some point you will have regrets. Your health or relationships may suffer from lack of attention. Or maybe you haven’t had a vacation in years and feel you have missed out on enjoying life. Or maybe you’re old belief that big homes and fancy cars are signs of success has caused you to realize that big mortgages and car payments leave you feeling stressed out or depressed.
You can work smarter, be productive and be profitable. You can improve your quality of work and quality of life. You simply have to take some time to look at the big picture. Here are some ideas:
The Satisfaction Survey
Determine your level of satisfaction in each category below. Use a scale of 1-5, 1 being least satisfied and 5 being most satisfied. Leave out guilt or societal measures. For example; don’t guilt yourself into thinking the category for fitness means you “should” go to the gym, and if you don’t, that you deserve a low score. If you honestly believe going to the gym would improve your personal satisfaction, then by all means give it a lower score because these are the areas you may decide to work on. And get creative. You can improve your fitness in lots of ways if you hate going to the gym. An example of a societal measure would be assuming you need to have a significant other for a high rating in this category. If you are on your own and happy with your life than your satisfaction level for this category would be high. Now you are ready. Go ahead a take a few moments to review the categories below and rate each one separately.
Professional/Business: First and most importantly; what is your satisfaction level on your overall work or business? Are you satisfied with your knowledge base, contributions and your compensation? Do you like what you do?
Next create a few categories around the major functions of your work/business and rate each one separately. Then look at each function with a rating of 3 or less. How can you increase your satisfaction in these areas? Can you delegate simple tasks to someone else? Are you wasting time somewhere and can you think of a creative idea to fix that? Are there personnel problems that should be addressed? Does your dissatisfaction come from being overwhelmed or from too much clutter? Clutter is a big drain on energy so eliminate the mess whenever possible.
Improving productivity not only increases satisfaction but can free up some time so you can move onto other things.
Personal: This includes things such as health, fitness, self care, education, personal development, fun, recreation. Rate each one separately and if there are other categories you want to add then by all means do so. This exercise is meant to get you thinking about everything that is important in your life. For example, if you are a religious or spiritual person that may be an important category for you to add. You also may want to eliminate a few categories.
Financial: What is your satisfaction level as it relates to your finances? Are you satisfied with the amount of money you have saved? Are you satisfied with the balances on your lines of credit, mortgages and/or rent? If you want create a detailed list of your expenses and rate each separately. There may be some real opportunity here to de-clutter as well because we do not just accumulate clutter in the office, house and garage. Over time your magazine subscriptions may pile up or memberships to groups and clubs. And if you did find a new way to exercise that does not include the gym than don’t forget to cancel the membership.
If you own a business do one rating for your personal finances and one for your business.
Social: This includes things like significant other, romance, family, friends, and community. Rate each separately and add or remove categories to make this a complete list for you. Human beings are social creatures. If you feel lonely make it a priority to find ways to meet new people. Take a class, volunteer, or join a group or club. Then go. Look at people when they walk by and say hello. Ask people how they are doing and really listen.
Physical Environment: This includes your home, workplace, neighborhood, and community. Are these places comfortable and aesthetically pleasing to you? If you feel comfortable in your physical environment your level of stress will be lower than if you do not. Next think of the place where you feel most relaxed. This may be a special vacation spot or maybe the time you get to unwind on your drive home from the office. If you do not have a place or a few minutes each day to unwind then make this a priority.
Now look at the areas you scored lowest in. See these as the weakest links in your life chain. And just like a chain, the weakest link will be unable to bare the same level of strain that the stronger links can bare. Take time to think about how you can strengthen these areas of your life. If you don’t believe you have the time now to work on these changes then think about that. Why not now? Putting off change that can make your life better doesn’t make a lot of sense. Later won’t be easier. You’ll probably never be less “busy”. And in fact it may get more challenging to make the changes later, especially if that link breaks and the relationship ends or an illness occurs. But if you really have a really good reason to wait then pick a time in the near future and make that your start date. You’ve got to commit to it.
The Vision Statement
Now that you have taken time to think about all areas of your life hopefully you feel motivated and ready to make some positive changes. There may be a few things you want to do. Before jumping into specific goal setting consider coming up with your vision statement. Busy people will say they do not have time for this. Logical people may think this is silly.
Businesses understand the importance of a vision and mission statement but many times individuals do not even consider creating one. Vision and mission statements are powerful because they provide you with clarity, direction and purpose. Individuals with a clear vision find it easier to be successful because quite simply, they know what they want. Not just in one area of their life but the big picture. From here you can then prioritize your goals and work on them in an order that will give you the best results. For example, if your see yourself with a PhD, then your first steps will need to include education. With other things you can work on multiple goals at once. You can work 60-70 hours per week, continue your education, spend time with family, and fit in a few yoga classes or walks. That’s exactly what I did for many years. You just need to have a vision and plan your day so you can function as efficiently as possible.
So what is a vision statement? It’s simply a way of articulating an image you are seeing in your minds-eye. The image is you living your perfect life. What would that look like? If you want start writing down as much as you can. Then try to summarize. It’s best to have a short and easy-to-remember vision statement. That way you can check in throughout your day to see if your actions are in alignment with your vision. If your actions are not in alignment with your vision, then take some time to decide if those are activities you want to continue engaging in. There will certainly be some responsibilities that fall into this category. But there could be opportunity here to use your time more efficiently.
Don’t think about the time it will take to do this exercise. Think about the benefits.
The Goals
Whether you came up with a vision statement or not, you can still set goals. If you don’t like the word goal then find a word that suits you better. Maybe you would prefer aim, objective, destination, purpose, target, or aspiration. I will use the word goal however.
Now you can decide what goals you want to establish for yourself. Take a moment to write them down. Next, look at the wording. Is your goal clearly stating what you want? Many times people word goals around what they do not want. You may be wondering why it matters and again it’s quite simple. If you cannot clearly articulate what you want, then how do you expect to get it? It’s easy to state the obvious like “I want to lose weight”, or I want to earn more money, or “I want to be in a happy relationship”. Here are some suggestions for good goal wording:
The Lifestyle
You may now be thinking this seems like a lot of work. But is planning for your perfect lifestyle effort or pleasurable? And the return on investment is living the life you desire. Maybe consider working with a life or business coach to help get you in the right frame of mind. Attitude is everything.
The key ingredient to success is personal satisfaction. If all you are doing is working, then it is very likely that at some point you will have regrets. Your health or relationships may suffer from lack of attention. Or maybe you haven’t had a vacation in years and feel you have missed out on enjoying life. Or maybe you’re old belief that big homes and fancy cars are signs of success has caused you to realize that big mortgages and car payments leave you feeling stressed out or depressed.
You can work smarter, be productive and be profitable. You can improve your quality of work and quality of life. You simply have to take some time to look at the big picture. Here are some ideas:
The Satisfaction Survey
Determine your level of satisfaction in each category below. Use a scale of 1-5, 1 being least satisfied and 5 being most satisfied. Leave out guilt or societal measures. For example; don’t guilt yourself into thinking the category for fitness means you “should” go to the gym, and if you don’t, that you deserve a low score. If you honestly believe going to the gym would improve your personal satisfaction, then by all means give it a lower score because these are the areas you may decide to work on. And get creative. You can improve your fitness in lots of ways if you hate going to the gym. An example of a societal measure would be assuming you need to have a significant other for a high rating in this category. If you are on your own and happy with your life than your satisfaction level for this category would be high. Now you are ready. Go ahead a take a few moments to review the categories below and rate each one separately.
Professional/Business: First and most importantly; what is your satisfaction level on your overall work or business? Are you satisfied with your knowledge base, contributions and your compensation? Do you like what you do?
Next create a few categories around the major functions of your work/business and rate each one separately. Then look at each function with a rating of 3 or less. How can you increase your satisfaction in these areas? Can you delegate simple tasks to someone else? Are you wasting time somewhere and can you think of a creative idea to fix that? Are there personnel problems that should be addressed? Does your dissatisfaction come from being overwhelmed or from too much clutter? Clutter is a big drain on energy so eliminate the mess whenever possible.
Improving productivity not only increases satisfaction but can free up some time so you can move onto other things.
Personal: This includes things such as health, fitness, self care, education, personal development, fun, recreation. Rate each one separately and if there are other categories you want to add then by all means do so. This exercise is meant to get you thinking about everything that is important in your life. For example, if you are a religious or spiritual person that may be an important category for you to add. You also may want to eliminate a few categories.
Financial: What is your satisfaction level as it relates to your finances? Are you satisfied with the amount of money you have saved? Are you satisfied with the balances on your lines of credit, mortgages and/or rent? If you want create a detailed list of your expenses and rate each separately. There may be some real opportunity here to de-clutter as well because we do not just accumulate clutter in the office, house and garage. Over time your magazine subscriptions may pile up or memberships to groups and clubs. And if you did find a new way to exercise that does not include the gym than don’t forget to cancel the membership.
If you own a business do one rating for your personal finances and one for your business.
Social: This includes things like significant other, romance, family, friends, and community. Rate each separately and add or remove categories to make this a complete list for you. Human beings are social creatures. If you feel lonely make it a priority to find ways to meet new people. Take a class, volunteer, or join a group or club. Then go. Look at people when they walk by and say hello. Ask people how they are doing and really listen.
Physical Environment: This includes your home, workplace, neighborhood, and community. Are these places comfortable and aesthetically pleasing to you? If you feel comfortable in your physical environment your level of stress will be lower than if you do not. Next think of the place where you feel most relaxed. This may be a special vacation spot or maybe the time you get to unwind on your drive home from the office. If you do not have a place or a few minutes each day to unwind then make this a priority.
Now look at the areas you scored lowest in. See these as the weakest links in your life chain. And just like a chain, the weakest link will be unable to bare the same level of strain that the stronger links can bare. Take time to think about how you can strengthen these areas of your life. If you don’t believe you have the time now to work on these changes then think about that. Why not now? Putting off change that can make your life better doesn’t make a lot of sense. Later won’t be easier. You’ll probably never be less “busy”. And in fact it may get more challenging to make the changes later, especially if that link breaks and the relationship ends or an illness occurs. But if you really have a really good reason to wait then pick a time in the near future and make that your start date. You’ve got to commit to it.
The Vision Statement
Now that you have taken time to think about all areas of your life hopefully you feel motivated and ready to make some positive changes. There may be a few things you want to do. Before jumping into specific goal setting consider coming up with your vision statement. Busy people will say they do not have time for this. Logical people may think this is silly.
Businesses understand the importance of a vision and mission statement but many times individuals do not even consider creating one. Vision and mission statements are powerful because they provide you with clarity, direction and purpose. Individuals with a clear vision find it easier to be successful because quite simply, they know what they want. Not just in one area of their life but the big picture. From here you can then prioritize your goals and work on them in an order that will give you the best results. For example, if your see yourself with a PhD, then your first steps will need to include education. With other things you can work on multiple goals at once. You can work 60-70 hours per week, continue your education, spend time with family, and fit in a few yoga classes or walks. That’s exactly what I did for many years. You just need to have a vision and plan your day so you can function as efficiently as possible.
So what is a vision statement? It’s simply a way of articulating an image you are seeing in your minds-eye. The image is you living your perfect life. What would that look like? If you want start writing down as much as you can. Then try to summarize. It’s best to have a short and easy-to-remember vision statement. That way you can check in throughout your day to see if your actions are in alignment with your vision. If your actions are not in alignment with your vision, then take some time to decide if those are activities you want to continue engaging in. There will certainly be some responsibilities that fall into this category. But there could be opportunity here to use your time more efficiently.
Don’t think about the time it will take to do this exercise. Think about the benefits.
The Goals
Whether you came up with a vision statement or not, you can still set goals. If you don’t like the word goal then find a word that suits you better. Maybe you would prefer aim, objective, destination, purpose, target, or aspiration. I will use the word goal however.
Now you can decide what goals you want to establish for yourself. Take a moment to write them down. Next, look at the wording. Is your goal clearly stating what you want? Many times people word goals around what they do not want. You may be wondering why it matters and again it’s quite simple. If you cannot clearly articulate what you want, then how do you expect to get it? It’s easy to state the obvious like “I want to lose weight”, or I want to earn more money, or “I want to be in a happy relationship”. Here are some suggestions for good goal wording:
The Lifestyle
You may now be thinking this seems like a lot of work. But is planning for your perfect lifestyle effort or pleasurable? And the return on investment is living the life you desire. Maybe consider working with a life or business coach to help get you in the right frame of mind. Attitude is everything.
