I don’t have time for that
Isn’t that one of the most used phrases of the last 5 years? And it’s still growing in popularity. People struggle all week to find a sustainable work – personal improvement – family – social activities – hobbies balance. I have been struggling with it for years now. Back in my early twenties I could play roleplaying games (D&D, warhammer, starwars) every week and mostly the entire Saturday. Yes that is correct, I am a total geek and I’m proud of it. Then most of us got jobs and families to look after and our social network began to grow. I’ve been talking to a couple of good friends and acquaintances about the pressure this all brings to the table. We all seem to agree on the fact that it’s a serious task maintaining your own agenda.
Just a short list of everything I want to spend time on
- Spending time with my wife and daughter
- Finding time to meet up with people that inspire me in proceeding with my personal goals of software craftsmanship and in the longer run business craftsmanship
- Read up on what is going on in the business and technology world around us
- Spending time with my friends roleplaying (yeah, we still do that, are we cool or what?)
- Playing some computer games, console and pc
- Just simply going out for a drink (it’s been a while)
- Play some guitar
- Do some work around the house
- Watch some movies or series
- Actually going to work and getting paid
Deciding who is important enough to fit into your agenda
I’ve noticed that I have found myself cutting down on meeting some people that used to be really close to me. Spending more time with people I just met on twitter or conferences that I attended. At first I felt really guilty for neglecting some people, but I have to admit that my focus has changed a lot these last years. I never thought I would get this focused on some of the things I’m working on right now. I still miss a couple of the people that I grew apart from, but there’s no use in trying to force ourselves to have 1 or 2 meetups each year. It feels more like an obligation than a fun night out.
Time for something new
I think the age of the 5 day / 40 hour workweek is almost over. People are asked to work on weekends, work a little during the evening, be available for customers during the night, …
Why don’t we just stop this madness of sending everyone to the office and measuring wheter or not they are there for 40 hours a week? What if we just make sure everyone can just do their job to the best of their abilities and facilitate this new way of working with and for customers?
Why not open up our schedules and forget about workdays and weekend days and just concentrate on getting our work done while having more time to ourselves to connect with other people and to enjoy the things that we really love doing? Most people laugh when I use this example, but why not try to have a society more like the one in Star Trek the next generation? Is it such a weird idea to have a society where everyone likes doing their work and get to spend 2/3 of their time pursuing personal improvement in things they really love doing?
You know what? We even might solve the whole traffic problem while we’re at it.
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