Time Envelope: A Practical Approach to Work-Life Balance

I have found that it is important to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Maintaining a good work-life balance is important for your sanity, your mental and physical health, and your marriage.

One of the side effects of my real weekly breaks is a better work-life balance that comes effortlessly.

I have made it a habit to list certain non-work related things in my life as must-dos. I spend the least amount of time on them. Most of them I spend more time on if time permits, but I don’t spend less time on them unless something special is going on.

It’s a lot like Dave Ramsey’s envelope system. Time put into the “with family” envelope isn’t used for anything else. The same goes for time used to relax or spend time with your wife.

The hard part is not feeling guilty about dropping important tasks to play with the grandkids or follow my wife into the bedroom. When something is past its prime, switching to something else can be a challenge. Sabbath has taught me how to do this because it is a hard day to stop working on anyway. Spending time doing non-work things has become the same thing.

This can mean I don’t get things done that need to be done. The way I avoid this is by leaving enough wiggle room to do the important things, not over-tasking myself, and regularly re-evaluating how I’m using my time. I’ve also learned to set realistic goals and revise them if I find I’ve miscalculated.

If you want to do this, I recommend starting with a few time envelopes. One of them is for things you really enjoy doing, and another is for time with your wife. Allocate a minimum amount of time each week for each of these things, and unless something catastrophic happens, make sure you do it.

Image credit: © Paul H Byerly Created using stockdreams.ai
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