A Balancing Act in November
Moving into the end of the term with reflection, adjustment, and intention.
Here in Central Oregon, November has announced itself. Skies are gray, blacktop is wet, leafed trees are wearing yellow and shedding aggressively. Fall term is more than half over, leaving most of us wondering, “what happened to September? October?”
In the world of teaching, fall term goes so quickly. For me, September, not January, marks the New Year. And the year doesn’t gently unfold. It rushes in, carrying me with it. Images of football and soccer, pumpkins and hay bales, shorts and tans giving way to heavy coats and hats, flash by like mile markers on the Interstate. It’s easy to feel as if I’m not in control of my life, but merely trying to keep up with the pace and activity of the academic year.
For that reason, November is a good time to slow down and think about self-care and balance. I’m starting my month off with some time blocking. For the first work week of November, I’ve created an “ideal” schedule. It includes all of my work activities (teaching, office hours, meetings, grading), travel times, domestic duties (things like shopping and fixing meals, laundry, childcare), ideal sleep, and self-care time (for things like reading, hobbies, physical activities). Throughout this week, I’m also keeping track of my actual schedule. At the end of the week, I have some time set aside to look at the differences.
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Now, I already know that the two schedules will hardly resemble one another. But what I’m interested in is 1) where the most striking differences are, and 2) where there are opportunities for adjustment — both to my activities themselves and to my expectations for myself and my schedule.
The other thing I already know? The comparison between my ideal and actual schedules will show that I’m stealing time from sleep and self-care.
But I’m investing in this experiment because I know I need visual proof, visual confirmation of this lack of balance. Because, when I’m confronted with the way I’m actually spending my time, I can make a plan to both be more realistic with myself and to pull myself into better alignment and balance with my more ideal life.
You don’t have to make charts, of course. But we all need some sort of conscious check-in with ourselves about the life we want to be living vs. the life we are living (or the life we are letting live us). In this time before we all add the end of the term and the onset of the holiday season to our metaphorical plates, I wish for you to have the time to reflect on that ideal life balance, to consider where you are in relation to it, and to do a little planning to move yourself closer to the ideal.
Not only do we deserve to be living something more reflective of our ideal lives, but the people we touch — family, friends, co-workers, and students — deserve our most balanced and present selves.
Enjoy your November — it will go fast!
