
For years I worked 50-60 hours a week. Not because anyone told me to. But because I felt like I needed to be in the office that long to get everything done.
But I wasn't getting everything done!
I was constantly exhausted and stressed. And definitely heading for burnout.
One evening, at gone 7pm, I was stuck in the office again, wrestling with my email inbox and losing... When I took a call from my wife.
"Oh. You're still in the office," she said.
"You have to sort this out Ben. The baby will be here soon. We're going to need you."
She hung up. I sat back and sighed. And I realised...
I HAD to make a change. I was becoming detached from my life and my wife. And my career wasn't going anywhere because I never felt on top of anything.
So sitting there in my big ugly red executive chair, I DECIDED I'd figure it out. I would find out how to get myself out of the office on time, reclaim my life and support my family properly.
I read articles and books on time management. I tried systems for organising my work and my diary. I was getting more done. But I was still in the office late into the evening. My wife was still annoyed with me. And I was running on empty.
So as a last ditch attempt I booked onto a time management training session. I wasn't sure what else there was to learn. I'd read the books. Watched the videos. Tried it all. But I knew I needed something more.
And I found it.
Pam. Who was running the training. She was real and human. Compassionate. But direct. And late into the session she said... "Everyone stop what you're doing. I need to share something with you."
And what she said changed everything.
It was the missing piece that fit into the strategies I'd already learned and unlocked exactly how to stop working long hours and reclaim my life.
I've taken the lessons from the books, the videos and Pam's words of wisdom and shaped it into a simple system I use every day to keep control of my worktime and ensure I have freedom and balance.
I call it...