Pedro writes, “There is a lot going in my life, as you can imagine, with someone who has two kids and a job as an attorney. I am trying to do the best that I can but it does become a bit overwhelming from time to time. I am able to do most things but still several fall through the cracks, making me or someone else unhappy. How can I prioritize so that the most important things get done but I am still able to make sure that the less important ones are not ignored?”
I agree with you on balance, which has been my mantra for many years now. I use this in spending money, for example. Yes, I need to save for retirement and emergencies, but I also spend it on travel and other things that I like to do. I do the same with my time. Yes, work is important (I need it to pay my bills) but I also like to just take it easy doing nothing or reading a book or watching celebrities.
The key to prioritization is:
Essentials: Things that you need to do to make a living or for the sake of your kids and other loved ones.
Fun: Activities that help you unwind and recharge to do the essentials. That is where vacations and other relaxing activities come in.
Exploration: Things that you have never done before but you want to try them out to experience the world.
Alice // Jan 25, 2011 at 3:15 pm
So much of my life is about being focused, doing things because we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our employers. So many layers of guilt that we have forgotten what we truly want! Teach me an exercise to liberate myself and find out who I am.
With work, the hours pass quickly, one minute you are at work, the next it is time to get home. Everyday is a surprise. The one thing I am afraid of is that my years will pass, and all I would have known nothing else in this world but work. I would like to do the other things, which matters; be a mother, be a wife, be a sister, a friend, a lover, an artist, a joker, a humanitarian, a writer, a dreamer and a drummer. But this would compromise me on my journey to be filthy rich. I hear you asking me what would I like to do when I am filthy rich, it probably would be all that listed in the sentence above. So why not just do it now? Because the degree of it would be different, as I would still have to be at my work at 8:30 till 6:30 pm. You see?
The French are good at doing what they like to do, they just don’t give a flying toss what anyone thinks. FREEDOM is their middle name. It is amicable. Then again I am sure they wish they had more resilience to carry a task through, like the Germans and the Chinese nations do. Point is the world needs this balance. In fact in my lifetime, I need this balance. It just so happen, I need to be a little less structured and a little more intuitive NOW.
I don’t want to wait for a death to rattle my cage, I want to feel ALIVE everyday. Seize the day!