Life is a marathon, not a sprint; however, there are times — even in a marathon — when sprinting is required.
Most of us here in the 21st Century have very complex professional and personal lives. Our ancestors often went to work and did one thing at a set pace all day. Then they went home to enjoy their families only to go back to work and do the same thing the following day.
Today, most of us juggle a myriad of professional projects and personal responsibilities. The time and boundaries between work and family or personal and professional have blurred. We have become very project-oriented. This causes us to deal with concepts, schedules, and deadlines. These must be managed delicately for us to succeed.
If you will remember being in college or even high school, you had a number of subjects taught by a number of teachers, each requiring you to prepare projects, papers, and study for tests.
Going through that educational process, it seemed to me that there were times it ran very smoothly — almost as if all the teachers or professors had gotten together behind the scenes to coordinate my semester or school year.
On the other hand, it seemed like there were other times when I faced the same course load, but I felt as if all the teachers or professors had gotten together in a secret meeting to conspire against me. It seemed as if they organized tests as well as due dates for papers and projects to conflict with one another.
Of course, I realize now, looking back, that none of my teachers or professors gave any thought to me one way or the other when they scheduled their courses.
Just as the people who control deadlines, workflow, and budgets for our work lives or those people who schedule kids’ sports practices and games and other church, family, and social events don’t secretly conspire against us.
At best, our work and home lives are challenging and hectic to manage, but there are a few ideas that may help us:
Prioritize the most important things and be prepared to eliminate the lowest priorities if everything becomes too chaotic.
Pull things forward in your calendar and get them out of the way during slack times in other projects. In this way, you can begin to control deadlines, even though they are set by other people.
Make others around you aware of all the commitments you already have so they can consider your schedule in light of overall responsibilities.
Realize that there are going to be times when you are required to sprint, but you can’t do that throughout an entire marathon or your whole life.
Your schedule ultimately belongs to you and is your responsibility. You have more control than you think you have.
As you go through your day today, sprint when it is required but only as a part of the overall plan to win your personal and professional marathon.
Today is the day!
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Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network, as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. He may be reached by e-mail at JimStovall@aol.com or by visiting www.JimStovall.com
– what are some ideas, tools, or resources you use to balance your hectic day and get the most done? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.