Now for the Greatest Balancing Act of All!
Balancing my professional and personal life has been pretty tricky lately. The work seems never-ending, which is a good thing, right? Well, yes and no. I know there are a whole lot of people out there that are struggling to find just ONE client or just ONE job. In fact, I see these people posting and considering job auction sites like elance.com, undercutting others, and doing the work for a song if they end up getting it at all.
Well, that’s a post for another day. Today’s post is about BALANCE, which I have little of… but I do try, or at least I want to start trying! Right now I’m juggling a full time job that “encourages” me to stay late; a lucrative freelancing gig; an online Ajax class; and time for my wife, friends, and, of course, me. Honestly, I just feel there are not enough hours in the day!
So what am I doing right and what am I doing wrong?
One thing I’m doing right is that I set freelancing work hours for myself. I want to work 10 hours a week, so I’ll split that up and dedicate exactly 10 hours where there are no conflicts. Unfortunately, this rarely works out—mostly due to deadlines—and I just continue to work past my set 10 hours. Need to work on that one a bit harder, me thinks…
That’s where this comes in!
Something neat I recently discovered is Toggl, which helps me log my time and organize my tasks. This has helped me at least ATTEMPT to keep my set work hours! Before, I merely glanced at a clock when I started, and glanced again when I finished. This made switching between tasks, or taking breaks, difficult. I think the coolest thing about Toggl is the Adobe AIR app you can download, so you can run it on your desktop and not worry about keeping a web browser up to access your account.
Now, where I’m truly failing in life balance is in the fun/social department. Sure, I go to a friend’s house maybe once every other week, or attend my monthly Meetup groups, or go out for for dinner/coffee/movie every blue moon with my wife, but I haven’t taken a real vacation since my honeymoon (going on 2 years) or even a weekender in a few months. Maybe because it’s winter, maybe because we’re in recession, but really, if I don’t start living, I’m eventually going to burnout. And that’s no fun.
My (hopefully) next post will further explain how I’m planning to achieve the life balance I’ve always dreamed of. Stay tuned for that..
And before I sign off…
How do you maintain balance in your life? Let me know in the comments!
Wow, I was just looking for time tracking applications yesterday … I’d fallen in love with On The Job – http://stuntsoftware.com/OnTheJob/ – but wasn’t willing to spend $40 just to try it out, especially since I don’t know if I can form the necessary good habits to actually use it.
Toggl.com looks to solve the same time tracking problem AND is free (for now) – but, their offline support sucks.
Yes, there are times when I’m working and not connected to the ‘net – it’s rare and unusual, but it happens. This is where an app. like On The Job wins over Toggl.
Maybe I need to just give in and cough up the $40. On The Job 3 definitely looks like the killer app.
OK, I gave in – I just paid for On The Job 3. It is unbelievably nice – and will definitely help me capture all the hours I put in. I have a really nasty habit of underbilling because I don’t keep good records of my time spent.
@Dossy I hear you! I tend to underbill for the same reasons.
Toggl seems to work for me. Though the interface can be a bit muddled. But hey, like you said, it’s free and it’s better than what I was doing before. I might check out On The Job if you say it’s that good. Actually, maybe I’ll ask you to show me it in action next time I see you at meetup.
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