Balance

How to you find balance?

You have multiple time demands.

You have numerous projects.

Your thoughts are jumbled and racing.

There are unsynchronized voices calling out for your attention.

Team members are grabbing at your shirttails.

I'm frequently asked how I strike a balance between this activity or another activity, and the assumption that seems to be built into the question is that the two activities are in competition with each other and that both priorities cannot exist in the same space. Further, it is assumed that the goal for which we're reaching is somehow requiring us to make a choice between doing this thing or doing that thing.

The reality is we may not be able to do that thing without doing this thing. We may not be able to do this thing without doing that thing.

The answer I think, is in one word: integration.

Integration requires that we return to our understanding of our mission and of our goals and our priorities, and sometimes build a bigger umbrella.?

It also requires that we differentiate between the end result and the means we use to arrive at the desired destination.?

When those ideas are fully formulated and when our thoughts are integrated, when our minds are balanced by the supreme weight of the vision and the mission and the essential goals, the balance will find itself in our priorities, in our calendars, in our timing, and in our thinking about these matters.?

I make it sound easier than it is.

I do not intend to do so. I know that it is a job, but the work needs to be done on the backend where we fully understand the mission and we renew our commitment to the mission every day.

That's where I find the balance.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself and your team:

1. What is the simplest way we can state our vision and our goals?
2. Can that be broken into components that serve the central idea?
3. What goals do we have that serve our mission and vision? How do they serve?
4. Are they effective or are they a distraction?
5. What are the activities we are doing now in service of our goals, vision and mission?
6. Are they effective or are they a distraction?
7. If we draw a chart with each component represented by a box, what activities and goals would we place in each?
8. Are there any "orphan" activities?
9. Can we justify our "orphans" or do we need to let them go?
10. Assign priorities and give them time allotments tentatively. Put these note aside and come back to them with the group or with a coach or mentor.

These are thought starters and will hopefully have that benefit for you.