Work, Life, Training Balance

Juggling it all is easier said than done! Here are a few tips from my own experience on how to balance it all.

Work – List it Out

Work is an important aspect of our lives but it can often creep home with us if we let it. I have made a conscious decision to not bring work home with me unless absolutely necessary. This commitment comes with a price. I must be efficient with my time while at work, not wasting time. I try to begin each day making a list of what I must achieve to be prepared for that day and the next. Then working through the list during the day. This gives my purpose and direction with my time.

Family

Part of the reason we wanted to accept my new job is so that I could travel less and have more time and energy for our family. Because of this, I have made the decision that my training cannot take away from time with my wife and kids. I’ve been utilizing the treadmill we invested in years ago, and although I prefer the outdoors, treadmill running has been efficient for training, and keeps me home in the morning to help with the kids before work and school. When I get home from work I want my attention on them, not work or running. We spend our evenings going swimming, rock climbing, playing games, going to parks, etc. This time with my kids is precious and something I want them to cherish as much as I do. Time with my wife is equally important. Unfortunately without family living nearby we don’t get out alone as much as we like, but we try and spend some time together every evening just talking or being together. And of course Netflix. Any recommendations? Let me know in the comments.

Training

As I have begun training more I have had to look at my life and priorities and proactively think of how I can fit in the time I want to dedicate to running with these other areas that adds not subtracts from them.

1. Mornings are my friend. I am a morning person by nature, but running first thing is not something that comes easily for me. I have to really force myself to get my shoes on and start. Once I do I never regret it. I take my son to school around 8 each morning before heading to work. This means I need to be done running by around 7:15 in order to get ready and help him before leaving. Though I don’t do all of my training in the morning the majority of it is done early. This allows me to get it done with no excuses and not let life interfere later in the day. Personally I couldn’t do this consistently without the next point.
2. Have a plan and review it regularly. This is something I haven’t done since graduating college and having a coach direct my training. This past fall I say down and reviewed my goal for the spring….run the Boston Marathon for the first time. With this goal in mind I wrote a plan that included daily training sessions. I had to look at my personal schedule and figure out which days I could do more and which I had to dedicate less time. Also, what was my goal and how much training did I think would be needed to achieve it. Finally, having someone review it to make sure I was not being unrealistic. In my case this was my college coach who I trust to be honest with me. Though he isn’t coaching me, he has become somewhat of an accountability partner and sounding board.
3. Community or training partners. This is one area I need to improve. Currently I do most of my training alone and in isolation which makes it hard to stay motivated at times. My former coach as well as a former athlete I am helping prepare for Boston are the closest things I have right now to consistent community with my running. Just having them to share and discuss my training has been a huge boost to my motivation. I also run about once a week with a few former athletes but that has been inconsistent at best. My long term goal is to build a group to train with and share common goals. This is something that everyone should strive for.
4. The last thing is to have a GOAL and share it with those close to you. I couldn’t dedicate as much time and energy to my training right now without the support of my wife and kids. They see me working hard and know how much it means to me. I in turn strive to support them and balance my time so my training does not detract from them.

I hope this post helps you evaluate how your balance your time and prioritize areas of your life that are important. I believe we all have more time to dedicate to our goals than we realized we just have to be proactive and honest with ourselves about what we want to achieve in all the competing areas of our lives.