We are what we do everyday.

I got to the end of last year and realized that I had spent more time working and less time doing the stuff that I really wanted to do. I have the right intentions – I want to spend more time with my family, more time reading books, more time playing music and walking the the dog. But I find myself stuck with a diary that is chock and block full of other stuff. And I never do the things I really want to.

My colleague, Bart Foster, asked me to design this template. The idea is that you schedule the things that you WANT to do at the beginning of the year. Get it in the calendar now! Book those trips, set up lunch dates with friends and say not to the boring projects that suck the life out of you. I have done just that. Lunches with my sister are in the diary, craft mornings with my friends are scheduled and I have booked a trip to the Magaliesburg with the family for the first school holiday in the year. At the end of the year I want to look back and be able to say: “I spent time on the things that are really important.”

What are you going to spend your time on this year?

Be deliberate. Schedule more of the stuff that give you energy. Here’s how to do it:

1. Analyse your diary for 2021 week by week
2. Make a list of the stuff that brought you joy and the stuff that sucked out your energy
3. Schedule more of the positive stuff and don’t do the negative stuff.