LEADERSHIP DILEMA – NOT ENOUGH TIME!!!
Friday, April 27, 2012 at 12:34PM | Lois Carson Does it seem like you never have enough time? This is a popular dilemma for many people, especially those in leadership roles. You find your “pie” gets divided into “pieces” which take up the things you have to do in your busy life. The sad thing for many of us is that we never get a piece of the pie for ourselves. Said more truly and powerfully, we never choose to take a piece of the pie for ourselves.
Many of us grew up with parents who said we have to get our work done before we can go “play”. This “belief” is still present for many people and results in working lots of hours at the office and then going home and doing more work in the form of “chores”. They fall into bed and start over the next day.
In the April 2012 issue of Real Simple Magazine, there was an interesting article on Women & Time. Don’t stop reading, men, as the key points to come apply to you as well! Their study showed that women who schedule their free time regularly are more satisfied with their lives than those who postpone their free time until they finish other tasks. Additionally, women who delegate to their spouses more than once a week are more satisfied with their lives than those who don’t. I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you. It does make sense.
My questions for you as a leader are: Do you plan free time for yourself? Do you delegate tasks to others? Or are you afraid to let go of control? To reclaim free time and enjoy it, you need to start thinking differently, change some of your beliefs and shift some of your standards. Decide it’s OK to schedule some “free” time for yourself every day. Know that when you’re more happy and satisfied, everyone else in your life benefits – at work and at home. I challenge each of you this week to schedule at least 30 minutes of free time for yourself each day and use it for something you enjoy! As the magazine article states, “Yes, you can have more free time!”
Making conscious choices about what you do with your time sure beats worrying about having enough of it!
Reader Comments