Good friends and family members can be both the worst hindrance to a new endeavor and the best support. And what a great excuse if you want to avoid doing that scary thing like write a business plan. Picking up the phone for a minute  can quickly turn into an hour with a sibling.

So how to find and keep the happy medium? First off, let the phone go to voicemail if you’re in the middle of something. Return the call the same day if at all possible but when you’re done with the task at hand.

Second make appointments on your calendar to check in with the friends that you don’t see on a weekly basis – doesn’t have to be much; a phone call or email. Time can slip by when you’re busy and suddenly five months have gone by since you chatted – that’s no way to preserve a friendship

Lastly, let go of the guilt if your mother thinks she doesn’t see you often enough (or grandmother, or whomever) If you’re honestly making time on a regular basis, just treat it as a compliment and let go.

Next week: getting travel into the mix

Holding Myself Accountable

So here’s how things are going

Gardening – still going according to plan and the spinach is up

Photography -moving along and picture taking continues

Jewelry – baby steps but progress is being made

Losing weight – more exercise is happening but not enough

Treasure hunting – budget is growing and plans for the next weekend

Chores – settling into the new routine

Romance – breaking some old bad mental habits and it feels good!

Technorati Tags: family relationships, time management

While relationships can also serve as an excuse “can’t make those calls – need to take Mom to lunch” too often they are the victim of having too many other things to do. Relationships can also be a goal unto themselves – those more strained that you feel the need to improve.  But what about the ones with friends and family that are just fine but which you manage to neglect rather than avoid?

I know I’m guilty of looking up from everything else and realizing that I haven’t seen a particular friend for two months or that maybe it’s been a bit longer than I thought since I reciprocated on family stuff. It’s neither conscious nor deliberate but “I’ll do it later” or “I don’t have time” still slip in there.  All the other goals are going to lose quite a bit of meaning if these folks aren’t there with you when you achieve them.  Delayed gratification has some merit but not when it comes to people. Relationships like so many other things are about process not the end result.

Next week – some thoughts on carving out time for the really important people

Holding myself accountable

• The garden – still going strong despite the appearance of the first mosquito
• Photography – an unexpected request for more information that took up the allotted time but that’s acceptable
• Losing weight – renewed focus after a frustrating shopping trip, doing better with exercise and not picking up the office treats
• Jewelry – ok – this one is a miss for the week
• Romance -doing ok on the plan to get out more
• Treasure hunting – also ok – nothing due this week!

Technorati Tags: balance, excuses, family relationships