I always hear people talk about how to find a balance between work and life. I call it a blended life.

For me, that means my work, coaching program, personal life, and spiritual life all blend and intersect at times. Some days, I may have a meeting at 6am or 8pm (hours usually kept for personal stuff), while other days I may not. Even though every day is different, I work hard to define what my days will look like and prioritize what a blended life means to me.

I started with boundaries. Here are some of the recent ones that I am working on:

  1. No work meetings before 8am. Right now, I am about 70% effective at this, but whoa, 70% is way better than it was.
  2. Leave Thursday afternoon to think, write, brainstorm, and journal. Right now, I am about 40% effective on this one. Again, 40% is far better than 0, and that’s where I was before I started.
  3. Put my phone in another room when I get home. I am doing great on this one – about 85% effective. (My wife has been a significant contributor in helping me stay accountable!)
  4. Boundaries when working from home. Trying not to go to the computer to check emails at odd hours, evenings and weekends. This can really suck you in. I don’t even have a % on this, but I am keeping an eye on it.

Besides creating a boundaries list, one of the most essential and valuable skills to practice is saying no. There is only a finite number of minutes in a day. You can only be in one place at any given time, and you can’t be everything to everyone. So, prioritize your days, and don’t feel uncomfortable saying no.

Of course, everyone’s work/life list will look completely different. An escrow officer’s will not look the same as someone who is in an administrative role. The same way an attorney wouldn’t look the same as a computer programmer. Nobody’s list is better than another – they are just different.

One of the quotes that helps me is, “Everyone deserves to be treated fair. Not everyone deserves to be treated the same.”

My challenge for you is to think about what a blended life means to you. From there, make a list of goals, boundaries, whatever you’d like to call them. Focus on getting better at them, and remember that even if you’re only seeing a 5% improvement in the short-term, that will make a big difference and increase with time and practice.

Life is good.

Jeff

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