14 days through.... are you on the right track?

Its been two weeks since 2007 begin. Are you on track with your new year resolutions? If I may, it is not surprising if one of your resolutions would be work-related, and it goes along this line, "I wish I could get a better work life balance, spend my days and time wisely, and do things that I always wanted to do." Well, you are not alone. 70% of working people have the same thinking. And that includes me. A wish will remain a wish, if we do nothing about it. So lets get retarded.. err.. I mean started, for it to come true.

Our No. 1 stumbling block: Where got time?
The new year always begin by catching up with work (wherever you left it last year). But the last couple of week you have been skipping lunch, coz there's just too much to do to take a break, and that you have a 260-page report that u have to complete ASAP, or that you are so ambitious that things get done at work when you are around (u think so?), but does that really make you happy?

Come to think of it, we do have the time. Regardless of how hectic or stressed our life can get, we must work hard to find the time to pursue other interest. We must know what makes us happy, and we must know how to make the time to get out there and do it. We got to get out of our comfort zone and unleash a more adventurous us. We need a varied personal life to develop wider interests, to relax and be confident.

I did some calculations. We have more than 100 days of spare time. To begin with, we have at least 12 days of holidays. Of course, working as an international staff here in Timor-Leste, you cannot ignore the fact that everyone is looking at different calendars ranging from the TL public holidays to the UN official holidays, your own country holidays (so as to plan your own holidays!), those religious holidays and school holidays (more holidays!). Together with 2 days per week (2 days x 52 weeks in a year= 104), and at least 12 days of Annual leave (thats what we get here - use to have 28 back home!) , we have a total of 128 days of free time!

So get started. Start planning your time and get in control of your life. If you can just afford few days at a time, there's a lot that we can do here in TL. Take a day trip to Atauro Island, climb the highest mountain here, go diving, fishing, travel to Jaco Island and rent a boat or something, or simply run up to the hills that u have been looking at everyday and see how beautiful life can be. You could kick back and relax, take up a hobby, have an adventure, or all of the above. The possibilities are endless. So don't think that every year is just 365 days of the working grind. As much as we work hard here, we must also work hard for a balanced life - Make the most out of every last second of that fabulous free time, coz life is just too short too be ignored....

For those who don't know where to start, I have a compact calendar here for print, with your own country version of holidays (thanks to david seah). Simple to use, add in TL and UN holidays and start planning your activities. And most important of all, have a good time and fun!

» Australian Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from “A Random”
» Brazillian Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Paulo Rodrigo Teixeira
» Canadian Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from “Quanta”
» Chinese Versions of 2007 Compact Calendar from Camelot Castle
» German Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Lennart Groetzbach
» French Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Le Tisseur De Toile
» Hungarian Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from “Kobak”
» Italian Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Luca Magnani
» Japanese Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Yoshiomi Kurisu
» New Zealand Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from bignoseduglyguy
» Portuguese Version (European) of 2007 Compact Calendar from “Rip”
» Singaporean Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Chew LH
» South African Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Jason Bagley
» Spanish Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Jeroen Sangers
» Swedish Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Jim Carlberg
» UK/Wales Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Clive Griffiths
» UK/Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland Version of 2007 Compact Calendar from Bruce Marriot


Seize the days!