You’ve got to get your priorities straight!

You’ve got to get your priorities straight!

I am sure that each of us has probably heard this or something similar once or twice during our lifetimes. Even if the statement wasn’t directed at you, I am sure that 90% of the population has heard these words. But I wonder how many of us; even those making the statement, really take the time to sit down and do a little self-assessment?

With my new career on the brink of its dawning I am incorporating a couple of awareness exercises into my life to ensure that I am spending my time in the right place. What I realized and discovered was a little un-nerving and I thought I would share it with you to see if I am alone with how off my proiorties are. Now please remember everyone is going to have their own importance levels; what I am most interested in discovering is if you are spending the most time in the place you actually want. That does not mean that we have to have the same items in the same priority order, I just wonder what percentage of your time is spent on the things you THINK are most important and where your time is ACTUALLY spent

First I created a chart of the things in my life I believe are important for me and in the order of their level of importance, see below.

1.       God

2.       Spouse

3.       Family

4.       Work

5.       Community

6.       Country

7.       World

After this list was compiled, I then decide to attribute a percentage out of one hundred on how important each of the 7 points are to me. Here are those results:

1.       God -50%

2.       Spouse -25%

3.       Family -10%

4.       Work -5%

5.       Community -5%

6.       Country -3%

7.       World -2%

It is funny that as I write this blog, I just realized that nowhere on the list did I even consider myself as a priority. How about you, did you think of yourself?

After assigning a percentage to each item I then translated the value into time. Based on sleeping 8 hours a day, my results were as follows on the 16 hours remaining:

1.       God -50% - 8 hours

2.       Spouse -25% - 4 hours

3.       Family -10% -96 minutes

4.       Work -5% - 48 minutes

5.       Community -5% -48 minutes

6.       Country -3% -31 minutes

7.       World -2% -17 minutes

As I discovered and you can see, I don’t have as much time as I think I do. I am sure that most married couples would agree that if they saw or talk to each other even half the time I have assigned (2hours) per day that their marriage would be rock solid. And I am equally sure that all of us can admit that they would like a 48 minute work day.

Okay, so what does this all mean? Well it is going to mean something different for everyone, because we are all unique and have different priorities.  I think that the take away here is self-awareness and the need for deliberate evaluation and action. We have to ensure that we use the time we do have for those things that we find most important. I don’t know about you; but I think I have to shuffle things around to at least try to balance out what is important, so it reflects the amount of time I am spending on them.

Just out of curiosity what percentage of your day was spent on work after doing your chart?