#016 - Work-life integration

#016 - Work-life integration

How to plan your year to achieve your personal and professional goals.

There’s a lot of talk about goal setting this time of year.

But talk is cheap.

How do we set ourselves up to be successful in achieving our goals?

I struggled with this for years.

Months would fly by without feeling like I got closer to achieving my goals.

I would jump from one project to the next, constantly reacting to the thing in front of me.

It was a precarious balancing act between managing other people’s priorities and my energy.

I would go on vacation, but I couldn’t unwind because my mind was on that big project due when I returned.

A few years ago I realized my approach (or lack thereof) was unsustainable.

I was fed up with missing family birthdays, friends’ weddings, and life events.

That’s when I embraced the Preloaded Year - a proactive approach I use to plan my year each December.

And you can, too.

Here’s how it works:

• Big rocks first
• Batching pebbles
• Organizing around energy
• Stress testing
• Heck yes, or heck no

Get the 2024 Preloaded Year worksheet

1. Big Rocks First

The “Big Rocks” analogy introduced by Stephen Covey demonstrated how filling our time with small tasks (pebbles) that consume our day-to-day lives leaves no room for life’s larger events like family, vacations, health, or passions (the big rocks).

If, on the other hand, we load in the larger rocks first, it becomes easier to fit all the same pebbles around those rocks.

I start my Preloaded Year by “loading in” the most important things I won’t miss.

Birthdays of family and close friends Anniversaries Family vacations Board meetings Weddings Important work initiatives

When it comes to identifying important work initiatives, think about the three to five most impactful things you can’t miss because they are responsible for the biggest results:

• Must attend conferences for lead gen
• The new product, service, or course you’re planning to launch
• Seasonal marketing pushes to drive growth
• Annual client renewals

2. Building around big rocks

Once the big rocks are loaded, I build out my months and weeks.

What things have to happen before and after my big rocks to ensure they’re a success?

One of my big rocks in 2023 was to run a cohort-based course on storytelling.

I knew that ahead of the 10 days I was running the course, I would need 2 weeks to prioritize driving registrations, finalizing my content, and configuring the platform. I batched those pebbles into a big rock and loaded them into my pre-loaded year. This ensured I didn’t take on another major project during that time.

3. Optimizing for Energy

I lay out my pre-loaded year on one page and use a color coding system for different categories:

• Orange for birthdays, family activities, and anniversaries
• Green for family trips and vacations
• Red for work projects & travel
• Blue for personal projects

This allows me to quickly assess how my energy flows throughout the year and make decisions to manage my focus:

• My energy dips during the cold, dark Canadian winter months, so I plan short getaways or staycations as milestones to strive towards.
• Following intense work sprints or big projects, I plan a few days to unwind and recharge.
• After I ran a half marathon on my birthday, I preloaded two days for my body to recover before heading out on a business trip.

Here’s a glimpse at my Preloaded Year for 2023.

4. Stress Testing

Once I understand how my Preloaded Year is shaping up, I stress test it.

Where do things collide?

I’m not going to schedule a vacation right before I launch a new service because I know I’ll be distracted and not feel present.

Instead, I’ll schedule my vacation right after my course to reset my energy and reward my hard work.

I also ask myself: If I accomplish what’s laid out in my year, will I achieve my goals? Am I over or under-indexed in any areas? Does this feel overwhelming? If so, where can I add in getaways or breaks to recharge? Does this plan get me fired up and energized for the year ahead?

5. Heck yes or heck no.

When I’ve shared the idea of a Preloaded Year with friends, some have pushed back:

“I couldn’t do this. How do you have time for other stuff that comes up?

That’s the point!

The Preloaded Year gives you permission to put your head down and focus on what’s important to you.

But then again, your Preloaded Year isn’t set in stone.

When opportunities come up (and they will), the Preloaded Year becomes a system for evaluating whether this new opportunity is worth changing the plan.

Ask yourself: “Is this a heck yes?” if yes, make the change.

If it’s not a heck yes, then it’s a heck no, and stay the course.

Space for sand

What about being spontaneous?

Because your Preloaded Year is built around your big rocks and pebbles, there’s still plenty of room for spontaneity. That’s the sand that nestles in the spaces that remain.

When you plan, you’ll have more room for spontaneity - not less.

And you won’t feel guilty when you seize those opportunities because you’ll know your priorities are covered.

I used to think freelancing allowed me to achieve work life balance.

But I’ve realized that balance often isn’t achievable when building a business.

There may be periods when I'm running flat out on a client project or burning the midnight oil on a new idea. I'm okay with that.

My objective in establishing my Preloaded Year is to build an integrated life where all the elements work together as a system that allows me to achieve my professional and personal goals.

Jeff

Freelance Marketing Alliance

p.s. On January 16 at 12pm EST, I'm hosting Freelance Office Hours (over Zoom). An opportunity to connect with other freelancers, learn new skills, and ask questions. Sign up here. More details will come in the weeks ahead. If you have ideas for topics to cover, reply and let me know.

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