Productivity Part II: Priorities

Priorities are not always easy or straightforward. I love my family and keep them one of my top priorities. I want to spend as much time with my wife and boys as I can but that doesn’t always work out when I have to pay bills and buy food. Getting paid means doing work; doing work most often means leaving my family for a while. There is no easy answer to this dilemma. I’ve found that on going trial and error is the only way to “work-life balance.”

You have to define your priorities before you can try to balance them. You have probably heard a cliché about climbing the career ladder only to find that your ladder was up against the wrong building. The same is true of productivity. If you work smart and get a lot done but your priorities are off then it won’t matter much at all. Have you ever sat down to write your priorities and talk to your loved ones about what is most important? These discussions are hard but can make your life much better in the long run. I try to set expectations with my family about my work schedule, to-do lists, and other activities so that we all stay informed. It is easier for me to know that I am working extra late (being productive!) when I know the goal is to have time off later in the week to spend time with my family.

There is temptation to let others set your priorities for you. Don’t let them. Your priorities should be built on your values and knowledge, not on other people. Managers and others have different values and are in different situations, assuming their priorities about work and life are the same is dangerous. I had a manager that would email me on the weekends and holidays. This could have been an issue and caused stress for me because I want to be responsive and do the best I can. But, responding to his emails and working on my time off does not fit my priorities. Luckily, I knew that my manager’s life was different than mine and he had told me that he doesn’t expect a reply to these after-hours emails. His children were grown and he often found time to work when his wife was doing other things. His situation meant he could still value family and be productive on the weekends. But since I have children still at home my priorities were different because of my situation in life. Had I assumed he wanted me to work on the weekends things would have been much different.

Spend some time defining your values and priorities. This will set the stage for your productivity to create meaningful results. Reach out via email or the comment box below if you don’t know where to start or how to set your priorities. I can help you talk through what you need or give you some resources to guide your efforts.