This past Thursday, I was invited to speak at a women’s business networking group in Richmond. The topic was “How to shave 5 hours off your work week.” During my talk, I went over a few topics like taming your email and setting up an efficient calendar. Standard stuff with a twist—I like putting a “life-balancing” spin on all of it. I find that anyone who puts their blood, sweat and tears into their career struggles with “turning it off” when it’s time to stop working; there seems to be a constant pull to get “just one more thing done” when the workday is over.
Take this past weekend for example, I was sitting on the couch with my wife, (also a small business owner) watching an awesome movie. She was checking something on her computer during the commercials. I gently asked, “That person you’re emailing? Do they want some popcorn too?” She got the subtle hint and sheepishly returned to the couch. I patted her leg, gave a big smile, and filled her wine glass up to the brim. She took a long sip and exclaimed “I just wanted to knock that one email out, but I guess it can wait until tomorrow.”
I’d actually addressed this very scenario in my recent talk in which I presented a simple tool called “blocked scheduling.” A blocked schedule is when you organize your calendar as if it had pre-designated appointment times. It works in the same way a doctor’s office lets know you what appointment times are available when you are scheduling your next checkup. To apply this to your work calendar, reserve time in advance to do specific tasks such as: making sales calls, meeting with clients, having a planning session, designing graphics, or working on accounting.
During my talk, to better illustrate the concept of “blocking time,” I whip out giant Lego blocks, and the different colors represent different activities in a typical day. For example, red represents phone calls, blue represents accounting, green represents marketing meetings, and orange represents PERSONAL time.
In practice, people have no issues with the concept of reserving time to do specific tasks—with one exception: personal time. Personal time is often given up in favor of doing something that we perceive makes us more productive, or because we feel someone else needs that time more than we do. Of all the blocks, that orange block is, in fact, the most important time to reserve, and should be held sacred. This is the time you set aside to recharge, and it’s critical for your long-term success in your business and in your life. Think of yourself as a rechargeable battery. People put a demand on your emotional and mental energy while you are at work, and when you get home, it only continues. Your kids, your significant other, even your well intending sister-in law, all want a piece of you—and it is truly draining. And without taking time to replenish, you may very well wake up the next morning still feeling like there is a big flashing EMPTY sign on your head. Now multiply that over weeks, months and years, and you get the picture.
If you are good at your job and business, you are constantly taking care of everyone else around you by giving them your best. When you keep that up without some serious orange time, eventually, you’ll run out of energy. When that happens, you tend to make mistakes, your service slips, your patience runs low with those you care about, and you wind up giving far less than your best. To prevent this, grant yourself permission to re-charge your batteries for a designated period of time.
Keep in mind that this time is qualitative not quantitative. If it’s difficult to create large chunks of orange time in one sitting, spread it around in 15 minute increments throughout your day.
Here are four simple ways to create more orange blocks in your daily schedule:
- “STOP working” time: No email or work-related phone calls after a designated time every day. Be consistent! (This is especially important for business-owner types who have a hard time “turning it off” on the weekends.)
- “Just Me” time: Read a good book (NOT work-related), do some gardening, take a long walk, sit on your deck and enjoy a glass of wine. Enlist the help of people around. Ask your main squeeze or a trusted friend to watch the kids for 30 minutes or longer so you can engage in anything you enjoy doing by yourself without interruption.
- “Unplug” time: No TV, Smartphone or laptop! It’s all about unplugging from the world for a while and slowing down.
- “Reconnect” time: Call a friend or relative whom you haven’t spoken to in a long time, go on a date with your significant other, take your kids on a hike in the woods. Invite a good friend over for movie night. You can even have a dance party! Why not? The important thing here is that you spend some quality time with people you truly care about, telling stories, laughing, and sharing your deeper thoughts. Just remember to steer clear of work-related topics and simply enjoy the pleasure of their company!
Remember! By giving yourself designated orange time to re-charge your batteries on a regular basis, you’ll have a much better “YOU” to give to others in the long run.
