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I see a good deal about having a healthy work-life balance. Getting that right is necessary for your sanity, for your physical and mental health, and for your marriage.
One of the side effects of my doing a real sabbath rest every week has been creating a better work-life balance without trying.
I have developed a habit of making certain non-work things in my life must do. They have a minimum amount of time I will spend on them. Most of these will get more time if it’s available, but they won’t get less time unless something extraordinary happens.
It’s a lot like Dave Ramsey’s envelope system. Time put in the “be with family envelope” doesn’t get used for anything else. Likewise, for time assigned to relaxing or spending time with my wife.
The difficult part is not feeling guilty about breaking from an important task to play with my grandkids or follow my wife into the bedroom. When something is overdue, it can be a challenge to switch to something else. Sabbath has taught me how to do that because sabbath is a hard stop no matter what. Spending time for non-work things has become the same way.
This could mean I don’t accomplish things that need to get done. I avoid that by having enough margin to do what’s critical, not putting too much on my plate, and regularly reassessing my time use. I’ve also learned to set realistic goals, and to modify goals if it becomes apparent I miscalculated.
If you want to do this, I suggest you start with a couple of time envelopes. Make one something you really enjoy doing, and the other time with your wife. Assign those things a minimum amount of time each week, and make that happen unless some catastrophe occurs.
Image Credit: © Paul H Byerly created with stockdreams.ai
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