Life satisfaction means different things to different people—each person’s definition is unique. That is because life is multifaceted, and each facet contributes to the quality of life we experience as individuals.
However, bringing balance to a busy personal and professional life is challenging. In order to accomplish all that we feel is necessary, many resolve to work harder and faster. As a result, individuals and families alike are increasingly experiencing a time crunch, mounting stress, and compromised health and vitality.
In addition, despite their best efforts, many express frustration about not being able to bring tasks to completion or having enough time to focus on what or who is most important to them.
No doubt, time is the most precious limited resource we have. In fact, the majority of people responding to a Wall St. Journal/Gallup poll indicated that if they had a choice, they would pick having more time over having more money.
In your own life, you will find that one of the biggest factors that will increase your life satisfaction is to gain (or regain) a sense of control over how you spend your time. In Take Back Your Life: Smart Ways to Simplify Your Daily Living, author Odette Pollar recommends that the best way to do more is to do less.
For example, don’t keep trying to jam more and more into your over-crowded schedule; determine to drop several items instead. However, you will first need to analyze your priorities. In Getting Things Done, author and productivity guru David Allen wrote:
We need to constantly define (and redefine) what we’re trying to accomplish on many different levels, and consistently reallocate resources toward getting these tasks completed as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Once you are clear on what is most important to you, then you can drop additional demands that don’t fit that criteria. Saying “no” more often will allow you to say “yes” to your priorities. As Allen explains:
Purpose and principles furnish the impetus and the monitoring, but vision provides the actual blueprint of the final result. This is the “what” instead of the “why.”
