Diary of a Work-a-holic

I’m looking at my calendar, watching it fill up more and more each week with dread.  The beautiful “white space” that I crave and feed off is gradually disappearing as I frontload more do-goals in my schedule each day.

I open my planner knowing that it’s going to be packed to the hilt with back-to-back calls, and no time to move my body or make myself a nourishing meal.  I start the day exhausted and finish it feeling shattered as I reluctantly drag myself away from my desk to come up for a gasp of air.

This is how I used to manage my days.  I crammed as much as was humanly possible into my schedule and if there was an unexpected cancellation, I snuck in some more work because there was always more to be done.  I took pride in getting more done and I can remember saying that “I eat work” as though that was a good thing.  I conveniently discounted the impact it had on my health and well-being because the only person who experienced that was me and I could easily say no to me.

I believed my work ethic was something to be proud of because since I was young I had received praise for working hard.  I had been conditioned to believe you need to work hard to succeed and I wanted to succeed.

I’d love to tell you that I recognised the error of my ways decades ago, but I didn’t.  It has only been in the last ten years since I discovered that a lot of the beliefs I used to accept as gospel in my life are no longer relevant or desired.  And it's only in the past few years that I’ve learnt how to rewire and acquire new beliefs.

Every day when I look at my schedule, I love to ask myself “How does this create balance in my life?”  Balance is what works for me now.  My schedule has become a delicate balance of finding the “right” ingredients like a delicious recipe.  Time for work, time for movement, moments for rich conversations and laughter.  Too much of one ingredient when we are cooking overwhelms the palate and our food becomes banal and boring, just like our lives when we have too much work. 

Following on from last week’s blog though, remember you get to decide what is the right balance for you.  So, now it’s time for a health check of your calendar.  How is it aligned with what you want to achieve in your life?  Is it too heavily weighted in favour of work?  What would a more balanced day look like for you?

Now you know where you want to go, it’s so much easier to take the next step toward creating more balance.

If you want help to create more balance in your life, book your free Time Design session with me by clicking on the clock!  Now I’ve cleared out the unnecessary drama about my “overworking” I’m back to enjoying what I love to do and everything feels easier!