Letting your work life eclipse your personal life isn't healthy. To keep both sides of your life in balance, you may need to take control of your personal time. Use a process similar to the one you use to manage your time at work:
- Clarify your personal goals. Do you want to learn to play the violin? Or master Italian cooking? What goals would be most fulfilling for you and accommodate the goals and preferences of the important people in your life? You probably have more personal goals than you have time to devote to them.
- Identify tasks you must complete to achieve your highest goals.
- At work you might need to schedule the time off well ahead of the actual trip. You may also need to make arrangements for someone to handle your projects while you're away.
- At home you may have to hire a house- or pet-sitter, or ask a neighbor to temporarily manage a volunteering project you've committed to.
- Schedule your tasks and goals.
- Don't schedule your personal time so tightly that you can't respond to unanticipated events and opportunities.
- If you have inadequate open space on your calendar, create an activity log for your personal time. Analyze your log to see whether you're wasting lots of time on activities that don't support your highest personal goals.
For example, if a vacation is your most important goal, completing a garden project may have to wait. So, prioritize your goals.
Consider the example of the vacation:
Book the two-week vacation. Add "Talk with boss about vacation" to your to-do list—then do it as planned.