Important... Urgent... Everything Else...

Life is about priorities. Life is messy. So I guess life is about messy priorities.

In my life... which is the only one I can really speak to, even though I always have an opinion, whether you ask for it or not... In my life I have three things: Family, Work, and Everything Else. Family is easy - its all about what is best for my boys. Even if its helping my ex-wife with something (like watching the boys when I am off work but she has to go in), its still comes back to what is best for the boys.

Work is a little less than easy. Its what keeps the paycheck rolling in, since as a decadent American I have grown used to food on the table and a roof over my head. At this point I may be the only one of my friends without a wide-screen HDTV. I have other toys, don't get me wrong... I love toys... but I've been trying to cut back on the big ticket items the last couple of years. Divorce is a great motivator... so are lawyer bills. Now the struggle of Important versus Urgent happens all day at work... and sometimes all night, depending on what is going on. Let's change this a bit... Work is complicated. I'm sure my coworkers would agree with this on some level.

Lastly comes Everything Else... bills, budget, laundry, cooking, cleaning (what little of this I do myself versus paying someone), yard work (again only what I do), groceries, ... you name it. The detritus and glue that holds our mortal existence together. Welcome (again) to the glory that is single life... except this time around it comes with with way more poundage that you can stuff into the Everything Else bag.

So where am I going with this? My thoughts have lately been circling around priorities. And I have settled on the following... I can't prioritize between these three things. You could say "Hey idiot... your boys come first.. Family First!" (which I will use for this example, since any of the three could have been your argument). So... Family First? But if I don't put time in on Work and Everything Else, something from those two will come back around to bite me... since I am no good to my boys without a job or paying my bills (or doing their laundry). My boys may read this one day and know exactly what dad is talking about as they think about him pulling a "not so dirty" pair of jeans out of the laundry so we can get out the door.

I know I am not the first poor guy (or gal) to realize this... and I won't be the last. And I'm sure some Tony Robbins will step up and give me advice on how to solve my problems, prioritize my life, and live in some ethereal bliss without a care in the world... if only I pay them $89.95 to attend their seminar... looks like they solved their Work priority... or maybe I solved it for them.

So here I sit... leaving Work for the day with a pile of uncompleted priorities, heading home to tackle some of my Everything Else items I am behind on, and possibly some Family things as Christmas is just around the corner. And somewhere in there come showers, sleep, and food... and TV... somewhere... still working on that part.

Messy priorities may be the easy part... the rest is just hard work.

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