I’ve been thinking about my goals for 2010, ones that I’ve set and adjusted a couple times, and thinking more about what I want to do in 2011. I’ve been forced to reluctantly admit that I cannot do all the things I want to do. That’s perhaps obvious, but not easy. There are far too many things that come along that are interesting!

My current work/volunteer schedule is aggressive, on the order of 62 hours a week. I’m working to drop that down to the 50 hour a week range by mid February, and even then that’s probably too much, but closer to sustainable and leaving some room for bursts where I want to add something that is short term.

In my notebook I’ve got a hand drawn pie chart, and I keep writing stuff down and scratching it out as I try to get the things I want into a 50 hour pie. It’s a good exercise, if frustrating! I’m looking for places where I can reduce the time it takes to do a few things, making a list of things that an intern might do, and overall trying to put things on the list that matter most to me.

Definitely not easy. Right now I spend about two hours a week blogging, time that I find relaxing and helps me to think through various things. Realistically I can’t do it faster, so the only option is to do less, if I want to save time in that area. Should I do less? That’s the question, and applies to most of the slices.

I’m trying to build the rules for what goes in/out:

• Stay focused on financial goals (which I haven’t done as much as I should have in the past year), but not short term thinking
• Do the things where I can make the most difference

Maybe I need one or two more, not done yet.