You would think not having a 9-to-5 would open up your time. My new normal has been anything but normal and unlike anything I expected. Time is one of those factors. I thought this would open my calendar up significantly and, in turn, open my time exponentially. I have learned that it is just the opposite.
I have never been the type of person to sit on my laurels. I am a doer. I’ve always kept my time busy, and I find it is the best way for both organization and coping with the responsibilities I take on. It also allows me to move at the pace of the ideas my mind continually creates. Conventional wisdom would say that removing the responsibility of a full-time job would open up that space. I am here today to let you know that’s not exactly how it goes.
Being a person that people know can do things comes with something called the burden of responsibility. I came across that idea sometime in the last six months, although I would love to attribute it to a specific source, I just cannot remember where. The idea is that the more people recognize that you can do things, the more responsibility and requests to do those things will keep coming. I feel that tremendously.
As I try to make plans for where my future will go, I have gotten a number of suggestions or voluntolds about what to do with my time. Nothing shady or disingenuous, but typically things with real need. Time for charity, consulting with other leaders, or just outreach from friends with problems. I now appear to have time because I no longer have the job I always had, and it does change how others treat that availability.
I’ve been able to spend more time volunteering in my church than ever before. That is something I genuinely appreciate, and it is an example of how this new flexibility has opened doors that might not have been available to me before. At the same time, it has also made me realize that having more time available does not mean I have an unlimited amount of it.
I have used this in the last few weeks to my advantage, but also to my detriment. I have said yes to projects and ideas that otherwise might not have come to me if people didn’t think I had the time. I’ve had conversations with great people that I would not have otherwise had for the same reason. I have gotten to reconnect with people and explore opportunities that I might not have encountered in the same way while working my previous schedule.
On the other hand, my weakness for picking multiple directions and trying to go in multiple ways has reared its head as well. I have a glut of good ideas about what to do and good suggestions on what to pursue. It has made a mess of prioritizing and how I’ve used my time over the past couple of weeks. For somebody who doesn’t have a 9-to-5, I have felt awfully busy.
The challenge is that I am not just managing the time I have. I am trying to figure out what deserves that time in the first place. When my schedule was structured around a full-time job, some of those decisions were made for me. Now, I have more flexibility, but that flexibility also means more choices. I can fill my calendar with things that are important, things that are interesting, or things that other people need. The difficult part is making sure those choices align with what I want to accomplish and the person I want to be.
This is good, though. Last week, I was able to realize this was happening and take steps to contemplate how to solve it. This week, I am tackling it very differently. I set my schedule up to focus on specific areas that are the top priority each day, moving them around so I can hit multiple big priorities I’m working on throughout the week. I am analyzing the things that have worked and have not to maximize my success and impact.
I’m not giving up on some of the things that have not been working, but I’m not going to focus the majority of my time on them. I have connected back with friends that I haven’t spoken to in a long time, and that’s going to continue. I have appreciated every person who has reached out to check in and see how I’m doing. Even in the muddle of all the things I’ve taken on, there have been so many good things, and some pathways have lit up like street signs pointing me in the direction of where to go.
That includes this space, which I want to spend more time on. I don’t know the process that I will land on here yet, but it will be one where I can publish more of what I think and what I want to review. It means reaching out more to people on a regular basis in an automated format. The emails I want to get out once a week? We’ll do that, but I have to make sure they have the time and space they deserve.
I want this blog to be part of the structure I am building, not just another thing I try to squeeze into whatever time is left over. I want to be able to write more, share more of my thoughts, and continue reviewing the games and experiences that I enjoy. That will take some planning and consistency, but it is something I want to make room for.
I have to be guarded with my new time so it does not go every which way. I also need to keep evaluating, keep checking in, and keep moving forward.
The next few weeks are going to be about evolving with the things I have learned and charting the path forward. I keep looking at it with both fear and excitement. It’s something brand new, but also not, because it’s based on exactly who I am. I don’t know exactly where it will go, but that is the beauty of it.
I know that I am going to have to make some difficult choices along the way. Not every good opportunity will be the right opportunity for me, and not every idea needs to be pursued immediately. I want to keep that in mind as I continue figuring out what this next chapter looks like.
So send me a message; I’m sure I can find some time.
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