This has to come above all else. Just like looking after yourself first because you cannot help anyone else if you do not have your health. As long as your focus is on how to help others, then looking after yourself first is okay. If you have a tendency to be selfish, then you may need different advice. But if you are the sort of person that always puts others before yourself, you may be burning yourself out to the point that you can no longer help them.

It is okay to take some time for yourself. You need to unwind, decompress, de-stress. There is no point putting others first if you are angry, irritable and frustrated. Sort yourself out so that you are in the right frame for your interactions. Otherwise, you are not really helping - you are there in body but not in mind - just going through the motions because you have to.

A quick cheat code for getting some time for yourself? Get up before everyone else. No need to lose sleep, go to bed earlier. Getting up earlier is the easiest way to be more productive. Workout, meditate, journal. Whatever it is you need to do to get back to yourself, early morning is the easiest time to do it before the day descends into chaos and whim.

Listening to Ray Dalio on the James Altucher Podcast yesterday and he said something very true. Although he has accomplished a lot, it is not the accomplishments or the work he remembers but rather the people and the relationships that helped deliver it.

When someone leaves a job after working at the same company for a long time, they often say that they will miss the people and the friendships they have made. We often spend more time with our work colleagues than we do with our husbands, wives or children, so it is important that we get along with them.

It might be obvious that it is easier to build a relationship face-to-face despite the advances in technology making it easier remotely. So, is it right that we should spend more time with people we did not actively choose to spend our time with rather than loved ones? How can we manage the balance of needing to have face-to-face time with work colleagues to achieve something without resorting to endless meetings becoming a talking shop? 

Be mindful of your time. Use a timer; see your time ticking away. Focus on what you want to achieve in a given amount of time and make sure that you achieve it without spilling over. Use future regret-based decision making: am I going to regret leaving this meeting before it is finished (on time) or am I going to regret getting stuck in traffic and missing my kids Birthday before they go to bed? Which would your loved ones regret more?

Plan, do, review. Set time; stick to time; see where you spend time. Repeat.

​A little old now, in the grand scheme of things, but still a good one.  Like a form of meditation, the one figured controls allow you to gently and calmly carve your way down a mountain, collecting scarves as you go.
 
Beautifully designed, allow yourself ten minutes downtime to recharge as you fly down the slopes.

Fed up of meeting hell? Our iPhone app can help. Find out more.

What would you do with an extra hour per day? More from the Blog

Because the media is full of bad news, I took a news break, a la 4 hour work week's low information diet. However, I happened upon Great Big Story on my Apple TV, but it is available on all iOS platforms.
 
Similar to UpWorthy, that fills my Facebook feed, Great Big Story is a massive dose of connection, humanity and good stuff to fill your thoughts with. All in bitesized chunks that are put into playlists for you.
 
Fancy something more in depth? The "Really Great Big Stories" playlist contains 15-20min videos in collaboration with CNN films.
 
Check it out – its free!

Fed up of meeting hell? Our iPhone app can help. Find out more.

What would you do with an extra hour per day? More from the Blog

Need some downtime?  Why just stick the TV on and sit mindlessly in front of whatever is on?  Why not choose from a variety of curated shorts delivered right to your phone.  Hyper is the app that takes the drudge out of chilling.

Fed up of meeting hell? Our iPhone app can help. Find out more.

What would you do with an extra hour per day? More from the Blog