TIME My $300 Billion New Years Resolution - Workology

TIME My $300 Billion New Years Resolution - Workology Time is my New Years Resolution in 2014 Time is my New Years Resolution in 2014 I took a stay at home vacation this week, and it was fabulous. With the exception of this blog post and less than a handful of work calls and emails, I havent written or done a damn thing related to work. Its been the most vacation Ive had in 4 years. This week I had the privilege of doing some really awesome and normal things. (Click here to get the full rundown from my Instagram.) Went to the beach with my daughter Slept in every day until after 7:00 AM Painted gold stripes on my living room walls Made homemade cinnamon rolls Re-arranged my bedroom furniture at 11:00 PM just because Pinned pins on Pinterest. Hence the bedroom re-arranging and stripes on walls Since I cant remember my life has been go-go-go, and its been nice to have no schedule and take the day at its own pace which for me means time to organize sock drawers and plant succulents in my outdoor garden in California. These are things that I enjoy doing but have abandoned in my personal life due to the fact that there arent enough hours in the day. In retrospect, while I have enjoyed the time off and away, I have been working unpacking, organizing and just living life. This living life thing is fun and yet exhausting. Its work. Its also not something I do enough of. More importantly, why am I taking time off to just catch up? What is this thing thats a barrier to me just enjoying and living life? Meet Stress. Your Personal Kill Joy This is your life and my life with stress, and its not okay. Its effectively taking over, running and managing our lives. Stress is a silent killer of relationships, families and life. And yet we welcome it with open arms like we do that late night email or work call from our boss. We cant shut it off. And by it I mean our electronics, our Facebook (speaking from experience), the constant worrying about money, what you dont have that everyone else does. Its the ultimate personal and life kill joy and yet we let it control, run and manage our lives. Why? Why and how do we let this new stress-filled balance-less normal creep into our life? A stunning ninety-three percent of employees, admit to running personal errands at work not including those like me who take time off just to catch up with daily life. There truly are just not enough hours in the day. Time Management Hacks are Hacked Ive tried reading Tim Ferriss 4 Hour Workweek, but all it made me feel was depressed and angry at the way he hacked the system effectively cheating to find more time using time management tactics and less stress. Is this the only way?  Its been over two years since I read that book, and I believe that much of what Tim said was utter bullshit. Hes never been a woman, a mom and someone who has to balance taking a conference call, while sweeping the kitchen floor covered in Cherrios while making their kids a brown bag lunch, so until hes done that, hes just a guy selling a gimmick to me. For the record, talking about Tim Ferris stresses me out. Maybe his next book can be the  4 Hour Therapy.   Your Job is Your Number 1 Cause of Life Stress Studies tell us that stress is bad. It ages and adds weight to our bodies and is a self-fulfilling cycle feeding its selfish ambitions over and over again. It creates barriers to living life. Whether you are an entrepreneur like me, stay at home parent, a boss or an employee, there is no work life balance when it comes to stress. Doing the average is stress filled and time is something there is never enough. The American Psychological Association, American Institute of Stresss 2013 Stress study highlights how stress regardless of its source infiltrates our business and personal lives. 31 percent Employed adults who say they have difficulty managing work and family responsibilities The Number 1 cause of stress is job pressure followed by money and health Stress costs employers $300 Billion in employee productivity, missed work and health care costs   While exercise, eating healthy and drinking in moderation is good, what I really need, what I really need is less stress and more time in my life. This week reminded me of that as I spent the afternoon folding socks, preparing frozen casseroles and steam cleaning my upstairs floors. Time is my New Years Resolution in 2014.