Leading a balanced life is often considered the light at the end of the tunnel. We want to be productive and make enough money to spend more time with our loved ones and to pursue our personal hobbies and interests.
But I’ve discovered a little secret about having a balanced life, based on personal experience and Dr Neil Fiore’s highly recommended book: The Now Habit.
The secret might seem absurd to some, but on closer examination, and by putting this little secret into practice, you will realize how true it is.
The Little Secret
Being productive won’t lead to a balanced life, but a balanced life will boost your productivity!
Sounds strange?
Then let me explain, with an example from my own life, which I am sure you have experienced before.
The Balanced Life and Me
I am usually involved in several projects at any one time. Some projects I find more interesting than others, but I always feel obliged to do the less interesting projects, either due to work commitments or because they are urgent. Therefore, I end up putting my interesting projects on hold until I can get the not-so-interesting projects out of the way.
What about family time? I tend to minimize that time as I get too busy doing professional work, and I usually promise my wife that when I’m done with all my professional commitments I will be able to spend more time with her and the kids.
But the problem is that when I commit the entire day to professional work I’m not usually very productive. In fact, the entire day can slip by without me accomplishing anything!
I end up wondering where the time went and how come I didn’t make the most use of it. And the reasons are very simple.
Reasons Why an Unbalanced Life is Less Productive
Recreational time and pursuing our hobbies isn’t a luxury, but a necessity. We need some time off from intensive work so that we can recharge our energies, regain our focus and revive our passions.
When we put everything we enjoy on hold, life will seem bleak and we will resist the work we “need” to get done as we lament over not having the chance to do the activities we want to do. This is one of the reasons why we check our emails, surf the ‘Net, alternate between different tasks and many other procrastination techniques: we try to experience some form of relaxation while doing our work, but we end up feeling more stressed because we aren’t doing our work and feel guilty about everything else we do!
Besides, is checking emails every 3 minutes as interesting and energizing as going for a swim, or having a family picnic, or meeting up with friends?
By dedicating all our living hours to work, we won’t have the focus necessary to get the results we want. We need to make time for all other areas of our life so that life becomes enjoyable and we aren’t depriving ourselves of an essential part of our lives.
Dr Fiore’s Un-Schedule
One of the tips given by Dr Fiore in The Now Habit is using an Un-Schedule. An Un-Schedule is a schedule that isn’t filled by all your work commitments but, instead, by all the recreational activities you want to do! Instead of trying to make time for recreational activities around work commitments (which you will find hard to do), the Un-Schedule forces you to place your fun activities as a commitment on your schedule and to do your work around your fun commitments.
This way, you have a more realistic vision of the actual time you have to get your work done and it forces you to be focused while doing your work, without allowing your work hours to stretch beyond their necessary limits.
Having a balanced life is a great way to be productive, and you need to keep reminding yourself of this little secret.
For more information on the psychology behind procrastination and great tips on how to lead a balanced and productive life, check out The Now Habit!