Where did my 8 hours free time go?

It was May 1, 1890.

Av Herr Axelsson i Skönvik - Klass i rörelse

 In Sundsvall in Sweden the workers demonstrated, demanding:

8 hours work
8 hours free time
8 hours rest

Maybe you work about 8 hours a day.
Maybe you sleep 8 hours or less every day.
Does it feel as if you have 8 hours free time per day?


I don't know how you spend your time.
But I know that one difference today compared to 1890, is that we spend a lot of time going from one place to the other.

In Sweden 1890, many people would work at home or close to where they lived. The kids would be at home or in a school they could walk to.

Today a lot of time is spent on bringing kids to school, going to work, picking up kids, bringing them to activities, going to the gym, taking the car to go to a shopping center etc.

Some of your "free time" may be spent transporting yourself and your family members to different places just to make life fit together.

Marta Vaidla has found another way. A way that makes it easier to manage the "work-life balance" we so often talk about.

If you want to get some ideas about how to balance or even integrate work life with family life, listen to my interview with this mother of four who works as a real estate agent.

Pressure or Pleasure - what do you choose?

A few days ago, I participated in a discussion with other project management professionals and heads of PMOs to discuss Competences needed for project managers to be ambidextrous in the business ecosystem. An interesting topic in itself, but this post is about something one of the participants said, before we even started:

"Everytime I come here, I get nervous, I feel the pressure. "

The pressure did not come from the group of leaders from different industries participating in the discussion, nor from the topic. It came from his memories from the place where we had the meeting; at Chalmers University of Technology, the university where most of us earned our degrees.

He said it jokingly, but there was a hint of seriousness about the feelings he had had when going to exams.

The comment stayed with me, since my feelings when I parked my Suzuki Gladius at the Campus were completely different. Of course I studied hard when I was a student here. Of course I participated in difficult exams, not always sure I would pass or get the results I wanted. But I also partied. A lot. And I was part of an organization that took care of the sound at concerts and arranged film evenings. I don't remember the pressure, I remember the pleasure.

You can have similar experiences as others - yet perceive them completely different. You decide what to put the focus on. You decide what memories to keep.

And then there is the future. You get to decide that too. Not what happens - but how you will react to whatever happens.

Pressure or Pleasure.

I know what I will focus on.

Do you ?

There is never a right time. Or a wrong one. Just do it!

"Once I have made x amount of money I will start my business"

"Once I own my own home, I will start a family"

"Once I have concluded university I will get myself a dream job"

Are you waiting "until" before you do something you really want?

Remember there is no such thing as "the right time".

You can start that business before you have the amount of money you envisioned.

You may find yourself pregnant and willing to start a family before you own a home.

Your dream job may show up before you have concluded university

There is no such thing as the right time. Or the wrong time for that matter.  So if you really want to do something - just do it!

This is the advice of Jenni Bush; Mother, marketing consultant and business owner.  In the video below she and I talk about daring to start your own business. Jenni also shares a funny and unusual way of cleaning the floors together with your children.

Enjoy!

Video interview: Dare to start your own business