Are you a good person?
Of course you are!
Do you value your health? Your family? Your friends?
Of course you do!
But do your actions reflect those values? Think back over the last week, month, or year. Was most of your time spent taking care of yourself and those most important to you? Or was the past year a blur of Zoom meetings and TPS reports?
Ask most people to tell you about what's most important to them, they'll tell you about their friends and family and maybe even tell you about a passion project or two. But you can't always trust people.
Instead of listening to their words, look at how they spend their time. And to find out how someone spends their time, look to their calendar.
If you're not a time blocker, your calendar might not be an accurate reflection of every single activity taking up your time. At the same time, if you don't intentionally make time for what is most important by blocking time on your calendar, you become susceptible to someone else taking control.
In Nir Eyal's Indistractable, he describes a "distraction" as the opposite of "traction." In other words, "distraction" only takes place when you have a goal in mind and don't gain traction toward accomplishing it. Without committing to a goal by scheduling it on your calendar, it becomes very difficult to cut down on distractions because you don't know what you are being distracted from.
Time to Create Values
With the world opening back up and lockdowns loosening, now is the time to take a step back and re-evaluate your values.
Where do you want to spend your time this week?
Do you want to make time for your partner? Put an hour on the calendar for you to have dinner together.
Is charity important to you? Block out time next weekend to find a worthwhile cause in your area.
And don't forget about yourself. Make sure you are blocking out time for meditation, reflection, or just general relaxation. Even if you feel like you aren't ready for time blocking, take the first step of mentally blocking out time by creating new habits.
Because your time is yours, and no one else's. How you spend it says a lot about who you are. Don't let anyone look at your calendar and get the wrong idea.