RW Makeover: Balancing work and life
Jennifer asked for tips for maintaining determination and perseverance during a time that can be filled fatigue, frustration and a lack of confidence. She says, “The toughest time really is now and it can be difficult when there is nothing tangible to show for it (like $$$). So I guess I’m looking for tips that would help in a psychological sense. Perhaps a reward system (I get xx queries out this week and I get xx) and a reward system for my husband too (G-rated of course). What about to avoid burnout? Something like I always take the first 30 minutes of the kids’ naptime to exercise or do something for me. Yes this decreases the amount of time I have to work, but I’m thinking that taking a small break in the middle of the day may actually make me more productive the second half of the day.
I definitely agree that you will be more successful at achieving your goals if you can manage to find and keep balance in your life. I try to work out outside every day to compensate for all the time I spend sitting in front of my computer. I also try to schedule in fun things to do and quiet time for myself to read; otherwise, I will just work from morning to night and end up feeling wiped out. Try this: instead of trying to find time to do things for yourself, schedule them in first and then schedule everything else around them. [Donna Smallin, unclutter.com]
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Dec 11, 2006 RW Makeover
I frontload time with my 13-month old right after breakfast — If I spend an hour playing with her and reading books and chasing her around, I can feel fine about handing her off to the babysitter and retreating to my workspace. And I meet my neighbor at 6am and hit the gym for an hour first thing. Working out first thing seems to set my entire day straight, and I can use time on the treadmill to pre-organize my writing and other tasks. And I try to schedule interviews in the field so that I can spend an hour in between doing some shopping or grabbing coffee with a friend.
Melissa, sounds like you’ve really got it together! You go, girl.