New School Year, New You
Hi friends!
Last week, I promised you some tips for organizing your life in ways that can create more agency and joy for you. Because, you/we/I deserve to feel light and free, not in 2024 when you quit your job, or in 2025 when you pay off student loans or on some other future date.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably someone who gets asked to do a lot, for colleagues, friends, family, community. And you’re a person of integrity, and a responsible No. 1, so you can’t say no easily. I’m with you. And one way I decide what I will or won’t do is to assess my priorities seasonally and create some tools, a kind of objective measure for my decisions.
For example, one priority for me this school year is to be around as much as possible for my high school senior. So when I’m thinking about invitations to participate in conferences or other events, I weigh that against the opportunity costs of time at home. Make sense?
So, here's a two-step process for setting up your Fall/future.
What are your three priorities for the season? (IMO, these often need to be addressed every 3-4 months.) For example, take care of my health or spend more time with my parents. Honestly, if you can make these non-work related, I strongly encourage you to. And losing time or energy to focus on these priorities is an opportunity cost.
When you’re weighing a decision, to travel, to speak somewhere, to somehow be available, weigh it against these priorities. What are the opportunity costs of taking on something that you’re being asked to do? Often, we know when something is a “hell, yeah” or a “no way.” But more often than not, there’s a lot in the squishy middle. Opportunity costs are a good way to understand what you’re LOSING by agreeing to do something.
Let me close by talking about this thing that people often say – “it’s not going to take that much time.” I have fallen for this justification too often. But when you add up all the things that take a “little time”, you’ve lost a “lot of time.” More importantly, everything costs something – time, energy, resources (like gas, childcare, etc). So maintain a high bar for your value and your time.
Still learning all the above,
Sayu