To Do or Not To Do

I have a lot going on. Work. Youth. Church. Friendships. Sports. Training. Family.

The one thing I do too much of, that interferes with the things that give life meaning, is work. I believe we all need to work, to provide for ourselves, our families and those things we wish to support. I also believe that we should not work nearly as much as we do. I'm finding more and more that I am envious of those who work little and have a lot of free time to give to things other than work.

I don't care for the attitude of the guy in the video, but I can't help but be envious of his laid back lifestyle. With the progress of technology I can never be "off" from work, except when I'm sleeping. And that is starting to take its toll on me. The previous 3 people who held my position all quit due to stress. I've managed to stick it out for almost 2 years. But's its starting to lose its appeal. The longer I stay, the more responsibilities get added to my position. By my account, the workload of this position has gone up about 50% since I first started it, and the money isn't worth it any more.

The incentive to stay isn't found in compensation. The job used to be its own reward. Now my incentive is to provide for a future family. I have decided that there's no point "providing" for a family if I can't actually spend time with them.

December Thoughts 2

With Christmas and New Year's Eve behind me Winter takes on a different personality. December is like a friend. January is like a foe. Before I mentally prepare for January I think I'll reminisce about the last half of December.

There were some unbearably cold days, but only a few. Overall it was one of the nicer Decembers as far as weather goes.

Winter Solstice finally arrived. Every day for the next six months will have more sunlight than the day before it. Its not too noticeable now but in a month or so the difference between days will be hard to miss. It makes me feel happy.

Christmas was good. I spent it with family and new friends. It was quiet. That is also good. Life has felt a little "loud" recently. I needed some "quiet".

New Year's was also quiet, mostly because I was feeling a little sick and took a 4 hour nap last night. I woke up in time to grab a quick New Year's party, count down, kiss, concert, pumpkin pie and then off to bed again.

It was a good December.

December Thoughts

It's been a while.

We've been reading through the bible chronologically this year in church. In early December we caught up to the crucifixion. It was unique reading about the Easter story during the Christmas season. It was a unique juxtaposition. I liked it. Easter is the point of Christmas.

For the first time in my adult life I've decorated my home for Christmas. I wish I had more time to enjoy it.

I've been to 7 Christmas parties this season. I'm tired.

Yesterday was the Winter Solstice. It's my favourite day of the year. Each day for the next 6 months is going to have more daylight than the day before. It starts speeding up noticeable in the next month or so. I could use some sun light.

Merry Christmas!

Too Many Friends

Four years ago I could count my friends on one hand. Probably on one finger.
I am very different now. And as I've grown and changed I've made some friends. A lot of friends actually. Maybe too many. I'm still an introvert, but I'm a very outgoing introvert. An introvert needs time alone, but a friend needs time too.

A couple months ago I decided to have a football party at my place. I made up a guest list. I had 66 people on the list. I was actually surprised. I didn't think I really knew that many people, let alone people I would call friends. Granted, some are closer friends than others, but all are people I would be perfectly fine hanging out with, in a group or one on one. Just to make sure I wasn't lumping some extra acquaintances I redid my list. I came up with 77. So, I really tightened up my criteria and scaled it back to 57 invites.

The only reason this is noteworthy is because of what I said at the top. Four years ago I was lonely. I felt alone and unknown. It is absolutely amazing to stand back and take a look at how my life has changed. I've changed too.

Now I just need to figure out how to manage my time. 57 friends is 57 birthdays. Engagements. Weddings. Births. Gatherings. I think I'm beginning to see why I find I have so little time for me.

Its definitely a good problem to have. Four years ago I had all the time in the world and no one to share it with.

And in case you're wondering, 32 people showed up.

Organized

Slowly organizing my life. Slowly. Removing clutter. Adding order. Finding a life outside of work.

I am very good at organizing and finding efficiencies. Somehow I have never really turned my focus on my own life. When I took over a division of my company last year it ran over budget for 13 months in a row. The first month I took over we ran over budget by $17. The next month we were under budget and have been for the last 17 months up to now. My division is just about to turn in its most profitable year in the last decade.

I'm turning my focus on my time management.

First Things First

God
Necessities of life
Family
Work
Friends
Recreation

That's close to the way I think life should line up. The way my life is right now seems to be more like work, necessities of life, work, family, work, friends, work, recreation, work, God. I need to figure some things out.

There are only 168 hours in a week.
About 56 hours are for sleeping, or trying to sleep.
There are about 21 hours a week for eating and hygiene.
I work about 50 to 60 hours a week.
There's about 10 hours of driving/transportation for work/school/life each week.

That leaves 21 hours a week for everything else. Only 3 hours a day. And out of that remaining time I juggle my hobby job, youth group, church, C&C, sports, friends, family. church, groceries, laundry, etc... It's not enough time for the things that matter. When I actually do the math I can't believe I'm living my life this way. I get cranky often. And I'm not a cranky person. When something important requires my time it's always sleep and God that get cut out of my schedule.

I'm thinking of ways to make changes.

Thunderstruck

Sometimes a classic transcends all boundaries.

Another Post On Time

I've been away for a while. Busy. I've been thinking a lot about time, again.

Everything is time. Friends, family, money, children, recreation, fun, whatever.

I've been working a lot. My job is very demanding. It takes a lot of time. It involves early mornings, late nights and weekends. Outside of work, I've been doing life a lot too. Youth group, both junior and senior high, C&C, small group, volleyball, helping friends move, hosting football parties (32 people - That was crazy), and church.

One of the things I've noticed is that the busier I am, the busier I become. I wanted to know why. I think I've figured it out. Work, for work's sake is pointless. We all work to support our lives outside of work (friends, family, fun). We all work to live, not live to work. And I work hard. The more I work, the more I want to live. So, in a weird way the less time I have, the more time I spend. The result is that I don't have much time for myself. It's taken me a couple years to figure that out.

What's the point of spending all my time at work if I can't do what's really important? I think I need to re-evaluate my work/life ratio. I can't cram more work or life into life. I need to cut back on something, and its not life.

The Pickle Jar

Sleep

I used to think that time was the only commodity of which you couldn't get more. I'm adding sleep to the list.