Diminishing Returns

Blech. I have no time for myself lately. I'm sick of cluster headaches and the holiday rush. I'm trying to coordinate several projects and I can't do it all. I have a full time contract where I have fallen a little behind because of how loopy I feel after a headache, which has been daily, followed by some changes internal to the company; they are revamping some processes that directly affect the documents I'm writing. My goal this week is to implement the changes and feel like I've caught up.

After work, I have a family and my personal business issues that constantly conflict. I do see a light way down there. It's like a little pinhole right now, but it's there. The daily headaches and my falling behind naturally force me into a panicky workflow. I'm disorganized and reactive when I'd rather feel more structured and in control.

With Christmas nearly here, I'm also a little reflective. I'm sure you know the kind of philosophical reflective questioning I'm referring to. What is really important to me? In the end, is all of this work worth it? Is the meaning of life really "42"? Ultimately, I can answer these questions without much thought. I wouldn't have chosen the path if I wasn't forced into some of it by life's situations as well as my own desire to succeed. I nearly hit diminishing returns last year and it took a wake-up call in the form of health issues to turn me around. So how do I know if all of my work will pay off and it will be worth it?

For starters, I have given my time a value. This has been very helpful to me when it comes to what I choose to work on. In my case I say that I'm generally worth $50 an hour. That's about right for my experience. So now, I use that as a basis for helping me decide what I work on. Providing for my family is my first priority. So I know that I need to minimally work say 40 hours a week to make that happen.

After I make my minimum requirement for income, then I can choose what to do with the rest of my time. Still retaining the value of $50 an hour, I can choose to work extra time with my primary income source, generate other revenue with side projects, spend time with my family, or donate that time for goodwill. Since family is a big priority, I need to make sure I dedicate a minimal amount of time each week to my children. It's not that I think of my family as business, but if I force myself to leave work behind for those hours, ignore the cell phone, and stick with my schedule, then I prevent the outside world from invading my family time.

Goodwill time still has a value. Let's say I decide to help my family with computer problems or I devote my services to my church, it's important to track that time. It's not that I expect them to pay me, but I do it so I can keep in perspective the time I am giving away without financial return. You see, if I know that I can only devote 10 hours per week of goodwill time and I also know that my church really needs help that week, my friend may have to wait. It's all about having boundaries around the things I have to do so they don't conflict. If you don't watch your time, you end up panicky (like I am right now).

Don't misunderstand my intent. You cannot be cold and calculating when it comes to the time you devote to your church or family. What I'm saying is that you can track your time in such a way that you ensure you don't drop the ball and you say "no" before you commit to something you just can't deliver. I have put myself in that position more times than i care to admit if there is one thing I could change about me in the past, it would be my tendency to take on more than I can handle.

Today, I'm spending time catching up and planning a little better. I read Getting Things Done a while ago and it made a huge impact on me. I need to remind myself of how important it is to apply structure to my personal and professional workflow. My goal for 2006 is to prevent conflict among my various activities and spend more time with my family. Structure and tracking is really the only way to prevent diminishing returns. Yes, it's anal, but the trade-off is less pressure.

Popularity: 1% [?]