Focusing on family - striking a balance

I have been focusing on improving my life with a huge emphasis on personal development. I was focusing on improving my productivity, with the intention of improving my output at work. I was learning the art of managing teams and clients. All that is good, but I think I have missed out on the target.

When you really think about it, you do all of that, because you want to give the best for your family. So we work harder and longer, in order to provide for them. But is it what they expect from us?

In this process I have deprived my wife and my kid, what they treasure the most. My time with them. In the quest to do better professionally and financially, I have significantly reduced the time that I spend with them. Is this really what I want? Do I want to achieve all that I want to achieve and stand there at the top all by myself? No WAY!

So I made some changes in my life. After discussions with my wife, I set aside set working hours for my ISC work and for time with the family. And whether I meet my financial targets for a month or not, I am not going to allow my ISC working time eat into my family time! I had practiced this for about 1 and 1/2 weeks before I had to travel out of the country for an assignment. But it worked out pretty well. Somehow I started to feel fuller and more complete. A different satisfaction was creeping into my mind.

Now that i am away from home for a week, I am spending almost all my free time doing some ISC work, as my family is not with me on this trip. So this week I am hoping to get most of my ISC work done, so when I get back home, I can spend a little bit more time with my family playing catch-up!

I think it is essential for any freelancer to concentrate on striking some balance between their family and their work. It is perfectly all right to spend your days and your nights when you are single and not in a relationship. But if you are married and have a family, it is essential that you put aside dedicated time for them, so they are not left out on your quest for success!

My next target is to master some time management technique to help me improve my productivity. Right now I am a bit torn between GTD and First Things First by Covey, as they come from two different perspectives. More on that later!