Life Balance

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3 Reasons Why You Aren’t Getting It All Done

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There is always something else to do. Another meeting, another appointment, another practice, another game. We have dinner to cook, dishes to clean, a floor to vacuum and bills to pay. 

Restlessness, anxiety and worry are often byproducts of the way we live life, which, simply stated is overloaded. There have been times in my life when I would look at my schedule and feel a sense of panic. Rapid heart beat, shortness of breath and a sinking feeling of "How am I going to get it all done?" Questions would bounce around my mind...

  • Why am I always behind?
  • Why can't I ever catch up?
  • Why am I doing this to myself?

The answers to the above questions may vary slightly from person to person however, when it comes to "Getting It All Done," there seems to be a few common denominators that link

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The One City Where Leaders Must Live: Authenti-City

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Our goal was to move to Autheni-City with the whole family. We had seen pictures of it and heard it was a great place to not only visit but to live. In fact, Mary and I had some friends move there a few years ago, and they say it’s the best!

We were living in Toxi-City at the time. We had lived there for a few years, but it was enough time to embrace our surroundings yet not too much for it to really feel like home. It felt like there was another place for us somewhere.

There was a lot of noise where we used to live—very industrial, very loud and very dirty. Mary was sick a few times with an upper respiratory infection and our kids were frequently sick. later we discovered I was the carrier! I wasn’t really watching

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When Leadership Ruins Your Family: How to Live and Lead Differently

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Today’s post is actually a podcast!

I sat down with one of today’s most influential church leaders, Carey Nieuwhof, to talk about our story, our leadership story. The link will take you directly to Carey’s site where you can download the podcast.

I hope our story is an encouragement to anyone who feels the effect of burnout, overwork, and life spin.

Get The Podcast Here

In the podcast I give 3 things you can do right now to help you current situation. They are talked about more in depth on the podcast but I have listed them here for you.

3 Things You Can Do Right Now
1. Start writing regularly in a journal.
2. Find a counselor.
3. Read a book with tips and tools for your situation.

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Family Time: How To Unplug & Engage

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When I make an attempt to spend uninterrupted time with my family, I feel as if I am fighting constant distractions and interruptions. The bling, hum or alarm from a text or social media app is certainly distracting; but even if I am in a location that’s quiet and with no cell reception, I find myself battling my overactive brain, which never seems to shut down.

 

The bottom line is that I need to stop interrupting myself before I can spend uninterrupted time with my family.

 

After getting myself “unplugged,” the next challenge is getting the rest of the family to unplug. Our kids are pretty good about unplugging when we have calendared family time, including doing a pretty good job of respecting the family boundary of no electronics at the dinner table.

I want our family times to be different. Of course there are times when it’s okay to play or socialize on your phone I just don’t want my kids to isolate themselves every time

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Parents: You Have To Take Advantage of This Opportunity!

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A few years ago, I was invited to be a guest speaker on a cruise ship. As it turned out, I was available! When the ship arrived at our first port of call, passengers had the option of staying on the ship or disembarking and walking around town. We opted for the second. Once we stepped off the ship, we were met by at least 50 people selling T-shirts, jewelry and food.

I guess you could say they were in the right place at the right time. Pretty smart to be in that exact location at the very moment when the ship arrived. It’s like they somehow knew. Well, of course they knew, and I’m sure they knew when the next ship was due into port as well. You see, they were “taking advantage of the opportunity

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3 Ways To Keep Work At Work & Protect Your Family Time

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I remember coming home from work one evening several years ago and walking directly from the garage to the kitchen counter without saying hi to anyone. I put down my backpack, took out my laptop, opened my email and started to write.

After a few minutes, my then five-year-old son Alec asked me what I was doing. I told him I didn’t get all my work done at the office, so I needed to finish a few things at home. After a short pause, he said, “Well, maybe they can put you in a slower group at work.” Well said!

How many of us secretly want to be put into a slower group at work?
One of the biggest mistakes I made when my kids were younger was working around the clock.

Lets take a short trip back in time. 20 years ago our parents couldn’t work around the clock. There were limits built in that prevented them from working all the time. The phone was attached to the wall. Sports season actually had a beginning AND and end and there was no such thing as a “push notification” unless you were referring to the doorbell!

Today’s technology allows us to work whenever, wherever and however we want and we need to find a way to stop it.

Modern technology blurs

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Multitasking vs Mindfulness And The Winner Is?

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Multitasking, we all do it and some of us do it better than others. Some would say they were born with it, some would say they learned it or had to in order to survive. Some are born with a larger capacity for it and those who have the ability usually want more. What is multitasking exactly?


Multitasking is engaging in two or more activities at the same time.


Now, when I look at that definition I think to myself, “I wish I could do more than two things at the same time!” My experience in talking with several people about the topic it seems like guys struggle with the idea and ability to multitask whereas the gals seem to almost be predisposed to it.


The question, the big question is this,
“Is multitasking healthy?”


Well, apparently, it’s not.
There is significant research that suggests multitasking is not just unhealthy but downright bad for us. I know, right? How else would we get it all done? How else would we get anything done?

When we multitask