What Do You Need in Your Life?
When I worked on the national staff of Teach For America, I learned about a helpful exercise for cultivating work/life balance (although we didn’t call it that; the exact name is escaping me). And it’s very simple.
It goes something like this:
You make a list of what you need in your life on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.
I’m feeling the need to sit down and think through my list again (I’ve done this exercise a lot!). I want to make sure I find that delicate balance between my own needs and my growing baby’s needs.
So here it goes:
Daily
- Engaging and meaningful work
- Approximately eight hours of sleep
- An hour-long walk
- Healthy meals and snacks
- Time to talk and cuddle with Matt
- Time on my computer
- A nap (since I’ve been pregnant)
- Time to decompress before bed (for reading, etc.)
- Introspection through journaling
Weekly
- Phone conversations with friends and family
- Extended time to do something interesting (attend a quirky event, craft, etc.)
- Time to do chores and go grocery shopping
- Yoga
Monthly
- Social time with friends
- A date night with Matt
Yearly
- Travel (preferably international)
- Time to reflect on the previous year and establish intentions for the upcoming year
Every time I engage in this activity, I’m struck by how little I actually need to feel fulfilled! My next step is to print these out and tape them to the back of the collage I made to represent my intentions for 2010 (see image above).