When talking about how people prefer to work, there are waffles, and there are pancakes. Waffles need work, home, and friends separated into neat little segments, none allowing the syrup to ooze into another. Pancakes do not differentiate — work is home and friends where everything runs together.
Nothing wrong with being a waffle or a pancake – you just have to put yourself in a position that favors your attitude and outlook. Attitude is everything! Find work that fits your attitude, which is essential to happiness. One of the best guys I know is a great family man and great friend, and he is a workaholic (a pancake) that attacks each day with a positive attitude. Granted, he does not brag about his work schedule, but it’s no secret that he enjoys his personal and professional lives blending.
I see many guys bragging about how much they are grinding, how many hours of overtime they work, how they do not get any sleep because of working all the time, how they have so many jobs, and how they work their asses off. Keep in mind that being exploited by a workplace or living in an economy where full-time work isn’t enough to live off isn’t something to brag about.
A good work ethic is an excellent attribute – but so many people are getting treated like crap by employers but then pride themselves on never missing a day, never taking a vacation, and never saying no to extra hours. Take this further: these overworked and overtired men go home and treat their partners/families/roommates poorly.
Being sleep-deprived does not make you better than other guys, either. Also, taking on extra work and then complaining about it is not a flex. In today’s hustle culture, we feel like we’re not being productive if we’re not grinding. Instead of grinding and flexing about that grind, make a goal to incrementally improve and balance your work life. You’re not winning at life if you work 80 hours a week and never have fun. Let’s face it — if you never take downtime, you’ll be viewed as boring. Taking time off to decompress is critical as the brain needs to rest.
Whatever your reason for working many hours, managing your time effectively and efficiently is essential – and looking at your life positively is critical. Focus on your life in real life priorities. You must be healthy to do anything, so health is your #1 priority. Working out and eating healthfully helps you stay healthy. As you know, I prioritize health over anything else. Work is my 2nd priority as it obviously pays for everything else, so I prioritize it over everything else except health. The next and 3rd priority is family and friends, to which I dedicate time for dinners, keeping in regular contact, and hanging out.
My next priority is the things that keep my life moving and are necessary errands and appointments. Your hobbies come last – these may be sports, photography, gaming, you name it. Dedicate specific times for these hobbies. Build a priority list and stick to it.
Getting better with managing your time also entails figuring out what’s going on in your life. You can try all of these tips I give, but you need to also think about the deeper level of what’s going on and WHY you are struggling to manage your time. Challenge your excuses! Write your excuse down and then at the end of the statement, add the word ‘so’ along with an action step. For instance, I don’t have enough time to workout, so I will look in my schedule and see where I can plan and make time. Or I don’t have time to clean out my close, so I will schedule 15 minutes every day until it’s completed.
I gave you the major priorities in life Health over Work for example. Let’s now take it more granular Getting up an hour earlier than you are right now will change your life. The first hour of your day is the most productive time of the entire day. There are zero interruptions, and you can focus. Your mind is clear, and you can accomplish more in that one hour than in 5 hours later in the day. You can use this extra hour in the morning to get some work done, create your to-do list for the day, or work out.
Another essential aspect of time management is keeping a list to track items you need to accomplish during the day. Prioritize each by importance and cross each off as you complete them. I know that a to-do list may sound a bit elementary, but it’s crucial. You need to start developing new time management habits, and a to-do list is a great start. At the end of the day, mark off what you’ve accomplished. What wasn’t crossed off needs to be added to the following day’s to-do list. It’s pretty simple but highly effective.
You also need to take a serious look at how much time you’re spending on social media. My guess is probably more than you should be. You need to set a specific time limit for your social surfing, which I recommend about 15 minutes per day. Perhaps you can do this at lunch or maybe after dinner. Think about it; you’re not really missing anything. Your friends aren’t that interesting, and they’re not telling you anything you don’t really NEED to know. You really need to be focused on making YOUR life more productive. You will be amazed how much time you’re saving and how much free time is freed up when social media isn’t sucking it all up.
If you have a lot of emails to answer, schedule that time too. I got in the habit of answering emails all day long, and if you’re constantly looking at your phone, a lot of time is wasted. So, schedule and limit the time you’ll respond to emails during the day. Then forget about it and move on because you have more important things to do. .
While we’re talking about emails, you need to keep that email inbox cleared out. Go through it and make folders to keep your inbox clutter-free. If your inbox is clutter-free, you’ll have a better chance of responding in a timely fashion and keeping yourself organized.
And keep this in mind. You don’t need to have your phone in your hand all day long, and you don’t need to be looking at it every 5 minutes. Have that social media and that email response schedule, and keep your inbox clutter-free with folders.
We get so bogged down with work, family, and doing things that we need to do that having time just for ourselves is extremely challenging. But you need to schedule time for yourself every single day; whatever you want to do. Perhaps it’s playing the guitar or reading or working out. If you can get away with an hour and feel comfortable doing that, go for it.
Time for ourselves is crucial to maintaining sanity and clear-headedness. When you feel like you’re doing something for all their people all the time, you can get rundown. You need to slow down and take time for yourself. If you’re not happy and healthy, you’re not going to be productive in other areas of your life.
It took me years to figure out how to get to bed earlier. I know many of you are up later than you should be. Perhaps you’re surfing or watching television. Turn that off. You need to be well-rested, which means a minimum of seven (7) hours of sleep. Eight (8) hours is ideal. I used to do the same thing and stay up because I was afraid I would miss something. The only thing I missed was solid sleep. You will be amazed at how much sharper your mind is and how productive you are as a whole if you’re well-rested with quality sleep. Don’t walk around in a haze in a sleep deficit.
Unfortunately, we cannot add hours to the day, but we can be more productive with the time we do have. I was getting so overwhelmed and frustrated when I had so much stuff going on in the past. It gets really tough to prioritize when you get overwhelmed, whether you’re a waffle or a pancake. And then you can be counterproductive — actually wholly unproductive. With these tips and tricks I learned along the way and am now sharing with you, turn this all around and make time work for you!
