What Do You Need in Your Life?

When I worked on the national staff of Teach For America, I learned about a helpful exercise for cultivating work/life balance (although we didn't call it that; the exact name is escaping me). And it's very simple.

It goes something like this:

You make a list of what you need in your life on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.

I'm feeling the need to sit down and think through my list again (I've done this exercise a lot!). I want to make sure I find that delicate balance between my own needs and my growing baby's needs.

So here it goes:

Daily

• Engaging and meaningful work
  
• Approximately eight hours of sleep
• An hour-long walk
• Healthy meals and snacks
• Time to talk and cuddle with Matt
• Time on my computer
• A nap (since I've been pregnant)
  
• Time to decompress before bed (for reading, etc.)
• Introspection through journaling
  

Weekly

• Phone conversations with friends and family
• Extended time to do something interesting (attend a quirky event, craft, etc.)
  
• Time to do chores and go grocery shopping
• Yoga
  

Monthly

• Social time with friends
  
• A date night with Matt

Yearly

• Travel (preferably international)
• Time to reflect on the previous year and establish intentions for the upcoming year

Every time I engage in this activity, I'm struck by how little I actually need to feel fulfilled! My next step is to print these out and tape them to the back of the collage I made to represent my intentions for 2010 (see image above).

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