Return on Life: Play hooky without the guilt!

I am a huge proponent of planning your time. Every week, spend an hour planning strategically and tactically for the week ahead. Every day, spend a few minutes making tactical adjustments. Then, to increase your return on life, play hooky occasionally!

One of my three brothers, the one who lives about a 4 hour drive away, called late Wednesday evening. Thursday was a day off for him, and he needed to get out of town. The Pittsburgh Pirates were playing at home that day, so he called to check the weather, considering a day-trip to see the game. As I was checking on the weather, I began thinking "I only have one meeting and it's in the morning. I could go with him!" So I did. We had a great day: the weather was beautiful, we got free t-shirts, and we thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Pirates lost, but I didn't expect perfection from the day.

But here's the key to playing hooky without regrets: Before I made the decision to take off and "play" on Thursday, I looked at what I was supposed to be getting done that day and decided when I was going to do it instead. I didn't just leave to it to chance that I could absorb it somewhere along the way. Given some current constraints on my schedule, a good chunk of it will need to get done this Sunday. But that's perfectly ok. It's a perfectly acceptable tradeoff for spending time with my brother, which happens to infrequently. And it was great to do it without feeling guilty about the work I wasn't getting done.

So, plan your time carefully, allow yourself some spontaneity without guilt, and still stay on track for your goals!