It’s been a few days longer than a week since I last posted my epiphany. If you missed the post, I basically came to a realization that I’ve been spending way too much time at work because I really do love what I do. But that is not healthy for me or my family.

I’ve done quite well in the past 10 days or so. I have managed to step away from my work after the hours I set myself. There were one or two days I did do some overtime. But I managed to limit the overtime by focusing only at the tasks at hand. Once in a while I still feel the very strong urge to get some work done. I think I need to find something else to occupy my mind when not at work.

That reminds of a book I’ve read – The
Now Habit (Dr. Neil Fiore). It’s about overcoming procrastination. I’ve said many times that I am a procrastinator but this book made me recognize what causes me to procrastinate. But only until now, do I truly comprehend some parts of the book.

In one chapter of the book, Dr. Fiore covers the importance of guilt free play. Play, recreation, down time, drinks with the boys, coffee with the ladies whatever you call it plays a role in our productivity. Basically, where there’s work, there should also be play.

The more often you can ‘play’ the happier you’ll be which in turn motivates you to work more productively and creatively. Instead of looking at the work as drudgery and putting it off.

So now it seems another puzzle is starting to fit into the picture. I didn’t play enough, enjoy life enough, laugh with my kids enough. Which leads to procrastination and simply put, a ton of hours doing busy work and only a few of those hours were really productive. Yet I stayed ‘at work’ so… so what? So I can say I worked 8 full hours a day to my friends and family who have a real J-O-B? So friends with a J-O-B won’t think I’m a slacker? 

How silly is that? Goodness gracious, how silly have I been.

I’ve already noticed that my work days are becoming more effective. On the days I know I have only X hours to work I tend to spend 100% of those hours to complete the work. The promise I make to myself is this:

No emails, no forums, no blog comment checking (is that your new past time?), no Twitter, calls. Just a solid chunk of work.

Only after I’ve completed the tasks I can do for today, will I allow myself to be ‘treated’ with forum, email, blog and Twitter time.

There’s still room for improvement. Some days, I’ve waste an hour or two of my designated work hours. So that’s going to be the next small step to conquer. Making the maximum use of every work hour I have to do productive work. Oh boy, lots or will power required.