Energy Sinkholes

How to Fill In Energy Sinkholes

Managing our energy is one task that working parents face daily. Given the demands on us from both the office and home, we can quickly become drained. An old article over at Lifehack.Org got me thinking about energy sinkholes. I thought I would expand on these for working people.
Creating Space

Creating Space

When I was first studying music, one teacher told me that music was what happened in the spaces between the notes. It was just as important to be creating space as it was to hit the perfect pitch, tone and expression. This thought changed the way I looked at the music, giving the spaces as much importance as the notes themselves.

Life is also like this. We need to give as much weight to the spaces between activities as we do the activities. If we allow those spaces to vanish, much of the beauty is lost. (If you don't believe me, listen to Flight Of the Bumblebee a few times in a row).We face overwhelm daily with all of the information that comes at us.. It is so tempting to keep on going forward with our never-ending to-do lists, never taking the breaks to give meaning to our tasks. One important concept in getting to a more peaceful state is to slow down and create those periods of space.
stocks

Assess Your Life Like Your Stocks

When deciding to hang onto a stock you have purchased, it's not about what you paid before. You have to consider if you would buy it again today, knowing about its performance since you purchased it. The same guidelines can help us get more deliberate in our lives.
Balance

Work/Life Balance: 5 Simple (And Direct) Truths

So many people seeking inner peace and simplicity also mention that they are seeking a balance between work and life. I was greatly encouraged by Adrian Savage's article "Slow Leadership: The Plain Truth About Work/Life Balance" (sadly, no longer on the web). It really struck a chord with me. His five truths are:
People On Your Task List

Don’t Put People On Your Task List

Do you have people on your task list?

My then-five-year-old spotted her name at the top of my task list. She wanted to know what it meant, and I explained to her that it was there so I would make sure to play with her.