Your priorities represent the things you value that are meaningful to you. As described in this chapter, knowing your priorities can help you make decisions about how to spend your time.
Part 1:
On a separate sheet of paper, draw a large circle. This represents your life for a one-week period (168 hours). Thinking through the last week (and referencing your time tracker from earlier in this chapter), draw a “slice” that represents how much time you spent on each activity you engaged in. For example, think about how much time you spent working, attending class, studying, sleeping, exercising, cooking, cleaning, taking care of others, volunteering, engaging in spiritual pursuits, watching television, surfing the Internet, playing video games, spending time with friends and family, and so on. Be honest!
Part 2:
Once you’ve drawn a pie chart that represents how you actually spent your time, reflect on this exercise by responding to the following questions:
Part 3:
As a concluding step to this activity, draw an aspirational pie chart that represents how you would prefer to be spending your time next week. In the text box below, answer the following questions: How does this aspirational pie chart differ from the actual pie chart you just drew? What specific steps can you take to turn these aspirations into a reality?