Comments on: Time, boundaries and health http://rupertward.cce.uk.net/2007/02/06/time-boundaries-and-health/ Random wonderings about God and Life Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:55:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Rupert Ward http://rupertward.cce.uk.net/2007/02/06/time-boundaries-and-health/#comment-547 Rupert Ward Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:41:29 +0000 http://rupertward.cce.uk.net/2007/02/06/time-boundaries-and-health/#comment-547 hey Paul - thanks for the comment. I love the image of having a margin in your life ... great metaphor. <br /><br />I also love the image of some Monasteries that are built with 4 things that they try to hold in tension: work, sleep, rest / fellowship, prayer ...<br /><br />So I wonder how i can create that Monastic rythym in my life? and in the life of our Christian communities? hey Paul - thanks for the comment. I love the image of having a margin in your life … great metaphor.

I also love the image of some Monasteries that are built with 4 things that they try to hold in tension: work, sleep, rest / fellowship, prayer …

So I wonder how i can create that Monastic rythym in my life? and in the life of our Christian communities?

]]> By: paul http://rupertward.cce.uk.net/2007/02/06/time-boundaries-and-health/#comment-546 paul Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:04:02 +0000 http://rupertward.cce.uk.net/2007/02/06/time-boundaries-and-health/#comment-546 I can certainly relate to crazy hours - when i worked for a big 4 accounting firm they paid well but that's cos they were buying the rights to your soul as well ;). It took me to the edge of almost having a break down to realise that this was no way to live - in the end i just didn't have the heart for the £ and success to keep putting in 10-11 hr days, especially when my faith and marriage were both going down the toilet at the same time...<br /><br />I think you make an excellent point about cramming in leisure - we work so hard take a break and we're like, ok this is gonna cost me, i'll have to work twice as hard before and after i go on holiday and then i stuff into my break so much stuff that i am knackered when i go back to work...<br /><br />What has helped me is changing priorities - i sort of think ok my first call is to my wife then to my family then to my job - if i rerank my life in that order i find that i get time in the diary to be with them and to shut out the demands of everyone else. <br /><br />It is of course not always easy - the temptation to just check email, or make that phone call is sometimes overwhelming...<br /><br />I also think it is good to have margin in my life, to look at my time and see ok when do i have space to do something - i could cram my life so full that if it were a page it would be covered in writing, but in having margin on either side it means sometimes i can write in it, sometimes i can just enjoy the space.<br /><br />Having started running again i am growing to appreciate that hour but also find it is an hour i plan/negotiate so that it does happen but that means i might have to do less of something else as a result... I can certainly relate to crazy hours - when i worked for a big 4 accounting firm they paid well but that’s cos they were buying the rights to your soul as well ;). It took me to the edge of almost having a break down to realise that this was no way to live - in the end i just didn’t have the heart for the £ and success to keep putting in 10-11 hr days, especially when my faith and marriage were both going down the toilet at the same time…

I think you make an excellent point about cramming in leisure - we work so hard take a break and we’re like, ok this is gonna cost me, i’ll have to work twice as hard before and after i go on holiday and then i stuff into my break so much stuff that i am knackered when i go back to work…

What has helped me is changing priorities - i sort of think ok my first call is to my wife then to my family then to my job - if i rerank my life in that order i find that i get time in the diary to be with them and to shut out the demands of everyone else.

It is of course not always easy - the temptation to just check email, or make that phone call is sometimes overwhelming…

I also think it is good to have margin in my life, to look at my time and see ok when do i have space to do something - i could cram my life so full that if it were a page it would be covered in writing, but in having margin on either side it means sometimes i can write in it, sometimes i can just enjoy the space.

Having started running again i am growing to appreciate that hour but also find it is an hour i plan/negotiate so that it does happen but that means i might have to do less of something else as a result…

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