Prioritize

Word Count= 317 words; Word Wrapped to 55 characters-per
line.

Prioritize

-- Time and energy for family relationships

-- Time and energy for personal life among friends
and community

-- Time and energy for self

-- Time and energy for work and career
development

Like any list, it would be nice to have it all.
The question is, how? How can anyone have time and
energy for everything? Amazingly, some few people
seem to get it right. They organize and prioritize
their lives so that each of the above areas is
frequently reinforced by other areas rather than in
conflict. In this way, they are satisfying more
than one priority at any one time. They get to double
dip and sometimes triple dip.

How can you double dip? Prioritizing means more
than just ordering a list. So, while the word
priority in a narrow sense is an indication of items
arranged in sequence of time, a more general meaning
connotes understanding the items that are to be
arranged. What is involved with career development?
How many relationships are there in a family? And
then, of course, what do those pieces of family,
or community, or self share with career
development?

Certainly the golf courses of this world see
enough business transacted along their fairways to
offer testament for the virtues of multitasking. It's
a pretty good day if you can get some exercise, enjoy
companionship, and close a sales order all in one
afternoon. The trick for career development is to
figure how many different ways the various pieces
of your life might reinforce each other rather than
conflict. Car-pooling can be social. Pro bono work
can be a learning experience while providing
involvement with community affairs. Hobbies can
provide skills that become useful at work. In the
end you still have to prioritize the list. If
you have considered synergies among the
elements, sequencing becomes easier.