Management Musings 2.1

In bouncing around the internet this morning I found an article from Forbes contributor Mike Maddock on “Ten Resolutions Most Successful People Make and Keep.” It was interesting and particularly so when it came to the tenth resolution.

“#10 Plan vacations (now)

You have probably heard the saying, “Life is what happens when you are not paying attention.” Unfortunately for many of us, we let this become true. Do yourself a favor and plan your vacations for the next year today. I promise you that the days around your vacation will fill in nicely. I also promise you that you’ll have something to look forward to and the life that happens during your vacations will be precious.”

 

With the exception that I believe that “Life Is What Happens When You Are Planning Other Things,” it brought to mind an item in Peter Senge’s book “The Fifth Discipline” which I have tried to follow religiously since I read it in the 80’s.

He puts forward that when planning the activites of your work year you should plan your personal time before anything else. He suggests that if you don’t do that you won’t have any personal time. I found that to be true in the early years of starting our business. So I changed. From that point on I put on the schedule personal time and held it out of bounds for any other activity. It worked. I was more refreshed – I could think more clearly, my family liked me better – I was less of a bear to be around, and we ultimately became more successful. Try it you will like it.

 

The time is now.