I started 2015 by asking, “Why Are We All So Damn Busy?”
Very few people consciously plan and design their life. It’s actually startling how few Americans are investing in their future.
Very few people consciously design their lives. It’s startling how many drift through their days without deliberately choosing how to spend their time. But the moment you decide you’re worthy of that power, everything changes. That decision shows up in tangible behaviors—like fixing or removing troubled relationships and saying “no” to anything that doesn’t serve your long-term goals.
“You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.” — Harold Hill
If 2015 was about questioning the busyness, 2016 was about being more intentional with my time. And as it turned out, that focus couldn’t have come at a better time.
A Year of Big Changes
In early 2016, Alaina and I bought our first home. We prioritized location—somewhere that kept our commutes manageable—while still finding a space that worked for us long-term. The night we moved in, Houston flooded, and we lost power. Not exactly the warmest welcome, but we were grateful to escape any real damage.
A few months later, in July, we welcomed our son, Rhett. I had a feeling that becoming a parent would change the way I viewed time, but I don’t think I fully grasped just how much. It forces you to reassess priorities. Suddenly, every minute spent away from home carries more weight.
The Three Prongs of 2016
Going into the year, I set three core priorities:
- Intentionality – Being ruthless about how I spent my time. Saying “no” more often. Focusing on deep work.
- Leadership – Learning to be a better leader, manager, and delegator.
- Self-Compassion – Easing up on my own expectations. Letting “good enough” be good enough in some areas.
I started the year with Lodro Rinzler’s Sit Like a Buddha, hoping meditation might help me develop a clearer, calmer mindset. The practice itself didn’t stick, but the core concepts of mindfulness and presence did.
I also revisited Clayton Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life?, which reinforced a hard truth:
The marginal cost of doing something “just this once” always seems negligible, but the full cost is much higher.
This hit home when I thought about my work-life balance. It’s easy to justify long hours when they lead to visible success. In 2016, the cause marketing campaigns I led raised nearly $3.5 million for cancer research and programs. It felt meaningful. But I also knew I didn’t want to wake up years from now with career success and no one to share it with.
Reading Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project pushed me further. I have a tendency to always look ahead to what’s next, rather than appreciating where I am. The book was a useful reminder to be intentional about happiness—not just productivity.
Implementing Deep Work
In May, I read Cal Newport’s Deep Work, and it gave me the nudge I needed to be even more deliberate about how I approached work. I started structuring my days differently, carving out uninterrupted time to focus, and saying no to low-value tasks.
Despite these efforts, the stress at work didn’t disappear. If anything, thanks to a peer, who couldn’t pull her weight, it started to spill over into full-blown resentment, which I outlined in, “Don’t Be the Workhorse.” The workload kept increasing, but the team didn’t grow.
Where I Landed
I worked hard to be more intentional with my time, but welcoming our son into the world made one thing clear: Time is my most valuable resource, and using it well matters, but what I learned this year is that the goal shouldn’t always be to be more productive or efficient, but to be more present. To invest in what truly matters. To create a life that aligns with our values, one intentional moment at a time. With that in mind, let’s see what 2017 will bring!
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