“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” 

― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It’s astonishing how quickly the time goes right out the window (throw back for any who know the reference). One minute it’s morning, your feet are hitting the floor. You blink through groggy eyelids at the world around you and squint when the light turns on. The next minute you’re wrapping up for the day, getting ready for bed, and trying to remember all that had been packed into the day. Perhaps you measure your days in minutes behind a cash register, or maybe it’s in emails in your inbox/outbox. For others you measure life not in the breathes you take, but in the moments that take your breath away (for those who have the time).

And crammed into that space of a day you have your priorities. The things you must do, or want to do, or think you should do, or would love to start doing, or consider a hobby (although it’s been stuck on a shelf since the day you bought it). We set our priorities differently, but our calendar really tells us what the priorities were for the day. Was it your family? Did you really need to get in three more emails? Did you leave work at the time you promised you would? Did you stay as late as you were supposed to (because it IS a two way street)? How was the world different today because you were in it?

In my own life I seem to never find space for the things I want to do in the midst of the things I find myself doing. I’ve got half started projects, great ideas, fun hobbies, and passions strewn about in the wreckage of my calendar. Between the server mounted to my wall (which hasn’t been turned on in weeks) and the frisbees (which haven’t been thrown in months) sits the filing cabinet that needs to be shredded of old content and the tread mill I keep saying I should start using. There’s the website I said I would help build for my son’s preschool and the blog I told my wife anyone could do. Plus my kids and wife deserve some time.

How do we… how do I figure out how to balance it all? How do I cut things out? Will I ever want to just lie in a hammock again and read a book? Or am I on to new and better things. Ways to learn about work, kids to play with, etc? How would I fill a week off of work? These are the thoughts running through my head as I drive home from work. I’m a man who loves tinkering with various technologies, but only gets a weekend to focus on one before a new project rears it’s ugly head (like getting grass to grow in the front yard).

Anyone have some ideas on how to figure this out?

Cheers,

-SF