Reader Anne Witkavitch writes in a comment to a previous posting about the valuable commodity that is time:
As one who is juggling family, career, and graduate school pursuing my dream to write and publish, I hear the same comment over and over again: “I don’t know how you do it.”
I cringe each time I hear this phrase. Although it’s meant as a compliment, what bothers me most is the implication that this special talent comes naturally, easily, and with no sacrifice or price to pay.
Time management and work/life balance is all about what’s important to us and how that ties into the choices we make. It’s about the 4 Ps–purpose, passion, priorities, plan. Understanding our purpose–or why we do what we do–correlates to our passions, the things we are just plain crazy about. From there, we can better prioritize all of the things that bombard us in our lives–papers due, project deadlines, meetings, school plays. And once priorities are clear, we can structure a plan to stay focused to ensure that we meet our goals.
Having the 4 Ps down pat helps take the stress out of work/life balance because we’re not trying to do everything–just the things that matter most.