Friday, October 9, 2009

Balance: Like the Food Pyramid

Balance does not mean giving equal time to each area in our lives. We all have oodles of obligations each day, but some tasks are done in fifteen minutes, whereas others require hours of our time.


How do we determine if we're allocating our time properly?

We could look at it as scales where one side is weighed with family, work, and free time and the other is weighed with writing tasks. But the two will never be equal, so I don't like that picture.

I think of it more as the Food Pyramid. Each layer represents what I spend my time doing. The bottom layer is where I spend the brunt of my hours. The layer above it would be my next biggest time commitment, and so on.

Everyone's bottom layer will be different. Look at how your hours fill up. Put the activity you spend the most time at (besides sleep!) in this slot. Examples: work full time, homeschool your children, volunteer every day, write full time, or if you're a student, attend classes and study.

The next layer? Maybe this is where you put your writing, spending time with family, volunteering, driving the family carpool, or household management.

The middle layer might be your free time or anything else you spend a good chunk of time at each day. It's easy to think we have no free time, but is that really true? I have a few hours every night,and I've learned to give my brain a break during them. No, those hours aren't productive, but they are free.

The top layers are smaller tasks. Housecleaning, paying bills, writing-related activities that aren't huge time-wasters, keeping in touch with loved ones, running errands, and socializing.

If you aren't sure where your writing fits, keep a log for a week on how much time you spend at every activity. A typical day might look something like this.

Monday: 1 hour--getting ready, 9 hours--work, 1 hour--chores/dinner, 1 hour--helping Johnny with homework, 30 minutes--writing, 2 hours--television/Internet.
Your pyramid would be: bottom layer--work, next layer--family/chores, middle layer--relaxation/television, top layer--writing.
By looking at this, you might think, "Oh, I only wrote for 30 minutes." But how much free time did you have? Two and a half hours. Thirty minutes is 20% of your free time.

Sure, your writing is the smallest chunk of your day, but you're still making progress. Could you really squeeze more in without having your brain explode? And would you want to? Blech!

By the way, I can hear you laughing at that schedule. Where's the trip to the grocery store to pick up food for dinner, the lost fifteen minutes looking for Johnny's permission slip, the "quick" call to Aunt Lucy that turned into a half hour, the smelly cat litter which begged to be cleaned, the traffic jam on the way home, and the seventy-three loads of laundry? I know, I know!

Try not to feel discouraged if your life isn't allocated the way you want. No one's life is ideal. We have to work with what we have to find our own right balance.

Have a terrific weekend!

34 comments:

  1. You are so speaking my language, Jill. We all feel we're juggling a certain number of activities and obligations in our lives. It's so difficult to do everything exactly the way we want to. I find I just have to keep going, doing the best I can at the current task at hand.

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  2. too true. Balance is sometimes about letting the scales tip and picking up and starting again :)) At least it is that way in my life :)

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  3. Good Morning!

    Heather: I've recently lowered my expectations. I'd been letting my to-do list expand into my free time, and you know what? I need that free time. My brain needs a break!

    Tabitha: Yes, the scales tip on a frequent basis around here. But it's easier to take when I remind myself that I'm the one who makes my schedule.

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  4. I've never thought of sectioning off my time like the elements in the food pyramid. There you go, making me think again!

    And I thank you for it.
    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
    ~ Wendy

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  5. Good visual aid. Have a great weekend right back at ya! :O)

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  6. I like the visual of the pyramid. I find schedules/itineraries help to keep my writing a consistent part of the day.

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  7. The pyramid is a good visual interpretation of balance. It is so hard give the right percentage of time to the the things in my life. I am constantly reevaluating.

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  8. Wendy: Ha! Have a great Friday!

    Diane: Isn't that picture great? I love the white with the green.

    Joanne: Schedules are a must. I recently heard of Lotus Organizer. It's an electronic scheduler. Sounds cool. But maybe too high tech? Hmm...

    Natalie: Me too. Downtime is necessary for me. I miss it when I let too many to-do's take over.

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  9. Nice practical post Jill. Priorities are important and I don't think we should feel bad about free time. We need that. :-)

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  10. I really should give more thought to the specifics of how my time is spent. I could do better - but it might be less fun ;)

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  11. I find that my "pyramid" changes from day to day. Although, each week tends to roll out the same way. Monday's schedule is usually the same, Tuesday's as well, and so on.

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  12. I like this, and I'm definitely not a schedule person. It's a good way of looking at time, something I've been struggling with lately. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. Yikes my pyramid is frightening! Bottom layer- full time job & blogging,middle layer- family (cooking, cleaning, checking homework)/writing/Church.
    Last layer is reading/friends.

    I am tired just thinking of all the strings that pull me. I need to do exactly what you said and keep a timechart for a week.

    Very insightful!

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  14. Jessica: I refuse to feel guilty about having down time! No way!

    Tess: If your schedule works for you, don't change it! Life's supposed to be fun!

    CMOM: Mine too. My Monday looks very different from my Tuesday and so on. That's why I no longer have the same writing goals for each day. Too hard!

    Sallyo: Sometimes it helps just to sit down and write out everything we do in a day. It becomes crystal clear how much more we do than we give ourselves credit for.

    Tamika: Feels like that pyramid's going to crash down sometimes, doesn't it? Not to worry! The important things get done and we can always change our schedule.

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  15. I like the way you look at this! Lately I feel like I've been ignoring the top of the pyramid (this would be where I would put free time). Or I'd pull things from the bottom layers and put them on top. And I felt stifled in my writing.

    It made me realize that free time, time away from writing or chores or worries is soooo important when it comes to writing. It rejuvenates your brain and excites you to return to your manuscript. It's a weird balance I'm trying to find and it changes practically every week, but I think it's all a learning experience and I'm learning a lot!

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  16. Jill, I think you could teach a workshop on this idea!

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  17. This is a great way to look at it. I've been trying to get my writing at the bottom of the pyramid, but it can't be there. I need to be satisfied wherever it falls.

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  18. Cindy: Life becomes deeply dissatisfying when you have no free time. It belongs in the pyramid! And I know--my balance changes all the time too.

    Erica: Ha! That's really nice of you. In fact, it just made my day!

    Susan: I hear you. Sometimes our lives just don't allow the writing to be on the bottom. But that doesn't mean it will never be there. :)

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  19. What a great way to look at this! Amazing. Thing is, my food pyramid is always changing depending on different things that are going on. But I think I juggle it pretty well. I try to, at least! It's tough!

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  20. Oh, I like that pyramid concept!

    When I think of the table leg concept I've been using, I think more of the length as a fulfillment measurement. Do I feel like I've put the right amount of energy into each area, not time wise at all.

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  21. Michelle: Mine too! That's okay. Life doesn't always fit in neatly. We just do the best we can.

    Eileen: I like that--putting the right amount of energy in. Great advice!

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  22. Good point. Maybe sometimes we need to just set those small goals and celebrate that we achieved them. An hour spent writing is still an hour spent writing!

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  23. Another great post, Jill.

    Oh! I almost forgot to thank you for posting on mingling at conferences. I'm happy to report that I came out of my shell for a bit and made a good dozen new contacts at the WOTS conference I went to last weekend. Thank you!

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  24. Jill, I've had NO free time to just ride my one of my horses or anything. I've got home-school and taking my son to the Neurologist, Cardiologist, and all of his other Dr.'s on my list too.

    But I love the way you have done this so I'm going to try it and see if it will help me find BALANCE. Thanks for caring so much to share this. :)

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  25. Steph: Absolutely! An hour spent writing IS an hour spent writing. Celebrate!

    Diane J: Yay! I'm so glad. The WOTS conference looked really cool. And a dozen contacts!! Wow! Consider yourself a networking master :)

    Robyn: I'm so sorry about your time crunch and your son. It must be extremely difficult every day. Obviously riding horses is important to you. Is there any way you could find a way to ride one just once this month? I'd bet it would go a long way to helping you cope. When I find a way to do something I love for even 15 minutes, I feel better about life.

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  26. So true about working with what we have! So very true. Wise counsel, Jill. Thanks!

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  27. Great advice, Jill! You are so wise! It certianly doesn't work out the way we expect, but it helps to see how much time we're allocating to each thing!

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  28. You are one smart lady! You should teach a class. Hey! Why don't you write a book? :)

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  29. Gosh, I need some serious rebalancing of my time. This week got away from me as far as family surprises and unusual circumstances but I suppose those can't be avoided and should be planned for as well. *sigh* I'll never win this war.

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  30. Could ya come be my balancing coach? I'll cook for you. :)

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  31. Katie: We can want our life to fit into our ideal mold, but how often does it really fit there? Mine doesn't!

    Jody: I think we'd be less hard on ourselves if we were honest about how much we do each day. And if we put less lofty goals in our head. Lowering the bar makes the goal attainable and gives me a feeling of happiness when I surpass it.

    Sherrinda: Me? Write? What a great idea! :))) Thanks!

    T. Anne: What? How can you plan for unusual circumstances? No. The correct answer is "I should breathe a sigh of relief that I made it through the challenging week." A bad week is tough enough--why throw a guilt trip on top of it?

    Angie: Don't tease me with food. Don't do it. I've seen your recipes. I've drooled over them. Okay, I'm headin' down south right now!!

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  32. Dividing our time like a food pyramid is an interesting idea. Whenever I try to sort it out in slots, too many of those "extra, unexplained happenings" come into the picture. I like this series. I'm getting little bits that help.

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  33. Nancy: Those extra happenings can drive anyone batty! I'm learning to roll with them. :)

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  34. I like the way you think. A pyramid of time. I'm going to do a drawing on this, a pyramid to see where I spend my time.

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