How to Balance Your Time – Learning & Developing

This is part five of a series on How to Balance Your Time, where we’re looking at the six key types of time we all need in our lives:

  • Creative and productive
  • Physically energetic and active
  • Playful and entertaining
  • Learning and developing
  • Reflective and spiritual
  • Restful and relaxing

Today we’ll take a closer look at the fourth type of time:  learning and developing.

I’m so grateful that at some point in my life, someone encouraged me to never stop learning and growing.

For some, they thrive in the academic world, and enjoy pursuing “formal” education.  I once knew a man who had three master’s degrees and a doctorate, and was still going back for more!

But for most of us, we grow, learn and develop through informal ways – by reading books, attending seminars, reading blogs, etc.  You can read how to become an expert on any topic for some tips on free and low-cost ways to grow your knowledge base.

One of my personal goals is to reach my full potential in the seven basic areas of life.  In order to reach my full potential, I know I need to keep learning and developing.  Right now, a lot of my learning is coming from magazines, blogs and podcasts.  In fact, nearly every time I exercise at the Y, fly, drive, or work on a household project (like painting), I listen to podcasts.

There’s an important distinction that needs to be made between “learning” and “developing” that we sometimes miss.  In some cultures, to “learn” means to take in information.  And to “develop” is to apply the learned information and be changed by it.  In some cultures, to “learn” means information, application and transformation – I love that!

After all, if more information was all we needed, then all librarians would be millionaires!  But they’re not – because action is the key next step.

What are you doing, and how are you balancing your time, to keep up your own personal growth and development?

How to Balance Your Time – Playful and Entertaining

This is part four of a series on How to Balance Your Time, where we’re looking at the six key types of time we all need in our lives:

  • Creative and productive
  • Physically energetic and active
  • Playful and entertaining
  • Learning and developing
  • Reflective and spiritual
  • Restful and relaxing

Today we’ll take a closer look at the third type of time:  playful and entertaining.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”  The point is that we all need some time to play, have fun, laugh and be entertained – otherwise we can become bored with life or get depressed.  These activities help to give our minds a bit of a rest – taking the focus off our work or worries.

Some of my favorite things to do for fun are:

  • going to a concert, movie or sporting event
  • watching TV at home
  • reading a book just for fun and enjoyment, not necessarily to learn something
  • sunbathing at the beach
  • going for a walk, hike, bike ride or scenic drive
  • going to a coffee shop or restaurant alone or with family or friends
  • going shopping

This topic is similar to the last one because we sometimes think we need to limit this kind of “unproductive” time. But all of us need time to be “off”.  We all need some time that is just for us and not anyone else.

Interestingly, I’ve found that when I do it, my mind becomes clearer and I often get some great ideas or insights that probably wouldn’t have come if I hadn’t slowed down.  My challenge, then, is to not start working when I get those ideas.  I simply write them down (if I don’t, I’ll forget them) and come back to them later, during my “productive” time.

If you struggle with making time for yourself, block off some time on your calendar this week and pick something that you enjoy doing . . . and do it!  Or, maybe pick something you’ve always wanted to do.

I’m sure there are some people who spend too much time in this category.  But I’ve never been one of them.  Have you?  What do you enjoy doing just for fun?

How to Balance Your Time – Physically Energetic and Active

This is part three of a series on How to Balance Your Time, where we’re looking at the six key types of time we all need in our lives:

  • Creative and productive
  • Physically energetic and active
  • Playful and entertaining
  • Learning and developing
  • Reflective and spiritual
  • Restful and relaxing

Today we’ll take a closer look at the second type of time:  physically energetic and active.

We all know that regular exercise is important if we’re to maintain good health.  And yet so few of us make it a priority.  That was true of me for much of my life.

My biggest problem:  I always thought that if I took time to exercise, I’d be taking away valuable time from my family, or productive time from my work.  I didn’t understand that exercise could help improve both my family life and work life – that it would re-energize, refresh and refocus me at work, and keep me in good health so I can be around a lot longer for my family.

In the last few years, I’ve discovered some strategies that have helped improve both my outlook on exercise, and my determination in making time for it:

  1. I discovered that I didn’t have to set aside 30 or 40 minutes for exercise at one given time in a day.  I could spread it out throughout the day.  I’ve learned that doing two or three 10-15 minute work-outs can make a difference.  Whenever I start to feel sluggish at work, I take a brisk walk, do some push-ups or other simple Fat Loss Quickie exercises in my office, or run up and down some stairs a few times.  It doesn’t take me long to get my heart rate going, and I notice that my mind is more focused and creative as a result.
  2. I learned that I can combine two or more goals for greater results.  My goals to exercise, spend more time with my family, and be super productive at work don’t have to be mutually exclusive goals.  Frequently, I combine the two by exercising or enjoying some physical activity with my wife and/or kids.  For example, my wife and I have begun working out 4-5 times a week using the Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred DVD (Jillian is one of the trainers from The Biggest Loser).  And I frequently play basketball, ride bikes, or go swimming with my kids.  We have fun, enjoy some time being together, and get some good exercise all at the same time.

Today, exercise is becoming more and more a natural part of my life.  But it wasn’t always that way.  I had to be more intentional before it could become more natural.

Has anyone else struggled with making time for exercise and physical activity?  Or am I the only one?

How to Balance Your Time – Creativity and Productivity

On Sundays I write on Spirituality, Faith and Ethics.  I do it because I believe we’re all spiritual beings and have some sort of a moral compass in our lives.  You can learn more by clicking here.

Yesterday, I began a new series on How to Balance Your Time, where we’re looking at the six key types of time we all need in our lives:

  • Creative and productive
  • Physically energetic and active
  • Playful and entertaining
  • Learning and developing
  • Reflective and spiritual
  • Restful and relaxing

Today we’ll take a closer look at the first type of time:  creative and productive.  It’s no secret that most of us focus a majority of our time in this category, because we spend so much of our time at work.

I think it is very natural for us to do that, because that’s how God made us.  He made us to be like him as a creator and producer. In the beginning, he gave Adam work to do and called it good.

But he also made us to rest. To maintain a balanced life, we don’t just need a day of rest, though that’s important.  We need times of rest and relaxation throughout each day and week.  And we need variety.

For most of us, working in the creative/productive realm requires a lot of energy.  However, we simply can’t maintain that high energy level forever.  We also need times of exercise, entertainment, learning, reflection and rest.  We’ll talk more about each of these in future posts over the next few days.

Personally, much of my time each week is spent in the creative/productive category.  I love what I do and I could do it all day and night, if I didn’t set limits for myself.

In recent years, I’ve increasingly realized that I can improve my creativity and productivity by taking time off to get some exercise, play, learn, reflect, and rest.  It seems counter-intuitive, I know.  I used to think that if I just worked harder or longer, I’d get more done.  But I’ve discovered this isn’t always the case.

In fact, I’ve learned that if I work too long or hard, my creativity and productivity begins to diminish.  When I work too late at night, I start to make mistakes.  I can’t think straight.

Now I’m learning to work smarter, not harder, by maintaining balance in my life. I’ve found that I have more creativity when I do exercise and take time to read.  I’m more productive when I get a good night’s sleep and take some relaxation breaks during the work day.

I’ve also come to appreciate the meaning of the word “recreation”.  It’s not just about playing or doing something just for fun or sport.  When we recreate we re-create.  Something happens inside us that re-creates the energy and creativity we need.

And above all, I’ve found that the more I acknowledge that my ability to create and produce is a gift from God . . . and the more I seek to do my work and live my life in a time-balanced way . . .  the more creative, productive, and successful I am.

This week, as I look over the list of six key types of time, I know I need to schedule some time for learning and developing.  I’ve got a stack of magazines and two books that have been waiting for me that I’ve neglected for far too long.  The reason why?  I don’t have the time – I have work to do.  Yeah, right!

But I know that if I take the time to read and enjoy those magazines this week, I’ll get a little re-charge in energy.  And I’ll probably get some really great ideas from what I read that I can put into practice.  So, I’m blocking out time in my calendar to read those this week.

What about you?  Are you all work and no play?  Do you find it hard to balance your time by scheduling times for rest, relaxation and recreation?  If so, I encourage you to look over the list of six key types of time and pick one or two that you feel would be most important to do right now, and then schedule those into your life this week.  Let me know how it goes!

How to Balance Your Time

How do you balance your time?  Notice I didn’t ask “How do you manage your time?” or “How do you organize your time?”

We talk a lot here about how to create and maintain balance in our lives, across the seven basic life areas.  If we don’t make a conscious effort to live a balanced life, we will tend to spend too much energy in one or two life areas (for many of us, it’s our career) to the neglect of the others.

I recently read an article from Pick The Brain which shared some ideas on how to balance our use of time, across the six key types of time.  Again, if we’re not aware of how we use our time, we’ll tend to focus on certain types of time to the neglect of others.

Here are the six key types of time we need:

  • Creative and productive
  • Physically energetic and active
  • Playful and entertaining
  • Learning and developing
  • Reflective and spiritual
  • Restful and relaxing

Over the next few days, I’ll share a definition for each type of time, a report on how I’ve done at balancing my use of time across these six key types, and some strategies for how you and I can utilize each type of time in a way that leads to greater balance in our lives.