There are never enough hours in the day. This is particularly true among freelancers and entrepreneurs who don’t necessarily adhere to a conventional schedule, but it can be just as easily applied to someone with a more traditional job with more traditional hours. We all struggle to strike that delicate balance between the responsibilities of work and the responsibilities of home. And then we somehow have to find time to restore our own sanity too.
Something that I’ve commented on before is the fact that we simply can’t save time. Instead, the only power that we have is choosing how we spend our time. Absolutely, we have our obligations. For better or for worse, most of us have to work in order to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. We work because we want to buy fancy things and go on fancy vacations. And that’s all well and good, but what about doing what you actually want to do?
This is separate from though possible tangential to the prospect of doing what you love for a living. Yes, we all strive for careers that we enjoy, that motivate us, that fulfill our existential desires for meaning and purpose. Even when we do, I’m not completely convinced that we want our careers to consume us, especially if you choose to settle down and have a family.
Time is a finite resource. Ever since becoming a work-at-home dad several months ago, I’ve become increasingly appreciative of this deceptively simple lesson. I need to update this blog. I need to write for my clients. I need to watch the baby. I need to do the laundry. I need to buy groceries and cook meals.
And at the end of the day, I inevitably find I still have so many other items on my to-do list yet to be completed. As a result finding time for my hobbies that aren’t related to work has become a nearly impossible challenge. I haven’t been reading as much as I would like nor have I really played any video games or gone for my head-clearing walks in the brisk Vancouver air. I want to explore my photography (and videography) further.
It may or may not surprise you that I’ve always been something of a doodler. Indeed, if you were to go back and look at the majority notes I took during my university classes, you’ll find that a lot of them have random doodles and drawings in the margins. I maintained a sketchbook during high school. But alas, since embarking on this freelance writing career nearly a decade ago, I haven’t explored this creative outlet at all.
There are no career aspirations linked to my cartoon-inspired doodles or the video games that I want to play (for the most part). These are just things that I want to do and, as a matter of prioritizing the needs of life, they’ve taken a back seat. How you and I choose to spend our time is a conscious and purposeful decision.
I just have to choose to read more books, play more games, go for more walks and draw more doodles. The challenge is finding enough time to do these things.
It’s inevitable that as ones life becomes more involved with kids, work, bills, family and more that choices need to be made. There is not enough time for everything and if you try to plan it out, you will fail while wasting more of that precious time.
I have just come to the realization that I need to give some things and know what the real priorities of this moment in time are.