Ron Tustin – Balancing Act

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Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. M. Scott Peck

Whether we work for someone else, for ourselves, are retired or ‘semi-retired’, work from home or travel to a workplace, we need to be able to manage our time well. Some writers have said that successful time management requires sticking to our priorities and making tough decisions every day. These days, many of us are working harder and putting in longer hours, just to keep our heads above water. The danger, of course, is that we lose ourselves in our work. Do you often meet a friend or colleague and the standard reply to ‘How are you?’ is ‘Oh I am so busy’?

Creating a good balance between work and the rest of our lives?

I thinking about developing good balance in our lives and managing time well, we may ask ourselves:

• What do I want to have time for?

• What can wait?

• What can be delegated?

• Who does what, and when?

Once we know what kind of balance we want to strike, then we must decide about the kind of boundary we will have. Is it non-negotiable? Is it something we can be flexible about? Will it apply all the time and to everyone, or are there exceptions?

We also need to ensure that this boundary is something that is our own and not someone else’s idea and in sync with our core values. We then need to tell everyone who needs to know about it.

So, imagine that we want to have a strong boundary between work and home. How do things like our personal needs and style, our communication skills, and the quality of our support system factor in? Here's a sampling of 3 pros and 3 cons to consider, as we think about setting our boundary:

Pros:

1. Our schedule is a lot less likely to be disrupted by other people’s urgency if we discourage "emergency" calls from home or work. When we are constantly reacting to urgency, we become distracted, overwhelmed, and often make rash decisions that undermine our effectiveness and erode others' trust.

2. When we encourage those who are qualified to handle emergencies on their own, we are promoting their confidence and competence and helping them to ‘coach themselves’.

3. Strong boundaries reduce outside distraction. This can give a huge boost to our focus, flow, and personal productivity, whether we're at work or at home.

Cons:

1.If we can't successfully delegate the management of a situation or demand, then maintaining a strict boundary may mean that those problems escalate and ultimately consume even more time.

2. Regimenting roles too rigidly can sometimes discourage cooperative enterprises. More flexible partnerships in which responsibilities are shared and differing strengths are pooled, may help us discover time-saving opportunities that are to everyone's benefit.

What's best for you? That's what really counts, in the end. There's no right or wrong here — just what works for you.

As you develop your ideas about your new time boundaries discuss them with everyone involved, so that people aren't surprised. For some of us developing good time management may be something we discuss with a professional such as mentor or coach. Others of us may discuss it with a friend or colleague.

The rewards, as we clarify, establish, and maintain time boundaries, are heightened productivity, improved communication and effective backup plans. In a very real sense, the boundaries we establish will direct our energies and shape our lives.

Boundaries are to protect life, not to limit pleasures.  Edwin Louis Cole

Ron Tustin
Revive and Thrive Coaching

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www.reviveandthrivecoaching.com
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