Does Our Time Align With What Matters Most?

Now that we have discussed boundaries and potentially started implementing a few, we can discuss allocating the time we regained to other areas. We want to match the most important things in our lives with what we spend the most time on. Where discrepancies are revealed, we can work on reallocating time.

Let’s do a simple time assessment:

1. Identify the top 5 most important areas of your life. List them out in order of priority. (e.g., (1) mental health/self-care (2) family (3) work (4) friends (5) my favorite hobby)
2. What amount of time are you spending each day in each area?
3. Does the amount of time spent on each area correspond with their priority? If not, what adjustments would you make?
4. Share this list with a safe person you trust and get their feedback.

Finding Our Identity Outside of Work

Beyond compensation, our jobs can provide us with emotional benefits such as helping others and solving problems that draw us to our work. We can really enjoy what we do and even describe ourselves as “passionate” about our work, the ultimate indication that, without a doubt, we are exactly where we should be. Our careers become all-encompassing because the lines blur between work and play. We love to code, so we became software developers. And when we’re asked to stay late or work on the weekend? Well, we might be coding then anyway because we love it, right? So why not just code for our workplaces? Despite our level of passion, work quickly consumes our lives.

Before this OS, when was the last time you thought about who you are outside of work? When was the last time you reflected on your identity without describing aspects of your job or career skills? Does anything come to mind? Parent? Friend? Artist? Snowboarder? Traveler? Do we participate in recreation? What does that look like?

This section’s purpose is for us to pause and think about how we can be unproductive. How can we “waste time”? What can we do for ourselves that doesn’t relate to our careers? If all things were equal, what are three things you want to do or that you miss from childhood? Could you buy a Lego set right now and make time this Sunday to build it? Could you dust off your guitar today and spend an hour learning a few notes or chords online? Could you open a bottle of wine, even a cheap one, and search for tasting techniques online?

How can we get better at wasting time? What can we do to revisit our human self vs. our workplace self? Take a moment to reflect on the question below and start the process of finding your identity.

1. List three hobbies or activities you’ve always wanted to explore that are unrelated to work.

2. Pick the easiest one to start and add it to your calendar when you can begin the exploration process. Start the process and decide later if you want it to be a regular part of your life.