Work Less; Live More

We all want to work less and get more out of life although in these troubled times this seems like an impossible task. But is it?

I used to find myself asking

that same question every day. It seems like as the days pass all I do is sleep, eat and get back to work. I had so many hobbies started but not finished and friends that I had not talked to in months. I got to the point where enough was enough, so I started to change all that, and I did it by doing something my father told me to do years ago.

I can hear it like it was yesterday, “Be more focused and set yourself some goals.” As with any good son, those words went in one ear and out the other! However, I could have saved myself many years of lost time if I had just listened.

What I failed to see was, by not hitting my daily and personal goals, I was cutting into my free time. Let’s face facts; we all have a limited amount of time on earth. Getting everything done and overcoming daily struggles seems to take up all of it.

Taking that to heart I started to apply the principles I used as a businessperson to my home life. Looking at ways to streamline my habits, figuring out my real goals, because I also realized I don’t have time to do everything. So, following my dad’s advice, I started to get focused and set some goals.

Once I started to focus on what I really wanted, I found I was doing, pardon the expression, all kinds of crap I didn’t even need to do or could even hope to accomplish in my lifetime. But by refocusing, for the first time I could pull out the ones I really wanted as goals and set aside the crap.

That being said, something my father failed to mention in his “be more focused” speech was, having goals and getting them done are two very different things.

Having a goal is great, but to get there you have to overcome all the obstacles that are in your way. In hindsight it seems obvious, but overcoming these obstacles can be done with actions and actions need to be followed through.

Now what does all this have to do with working less and getting more out of life? Here is the catch, the problem you face is if you want to work less well, then first you need to put the work into getting organized and maximizing your focused time so you have free time.

In other words, ironically, you have to put more time and effort in getting organized at the beginning to have more free time in the long run.

So, how do you do this and keep your sanity? Do a personal inventory. Where is that time going? I can almost, notice I said almost, guarantee you have a bit of time that isn’t being used to its best advantage.

Once you see where you have some time gaps, it’s time to set out some of those goals you want to reach. If you don’t know how to set out your goals in a way that you’ll be able to follow through with, try out the STEPS personal achievement system. It’s a simple way to get organized and focus on what you want; more free time!