Average Week Visualized - Balancing it All

So I did something for work this week that shows a good picture. Having seen a presentation on the web regarding information design (http://www.informationisbeautiful.net) I decided to map out my average week in terms of how the 168 hours are spent. This is the same approach as used in the billion dollar-o-gram to show relationships between amounts proportionality.

The Boxes Explained

SLEEP - As you can see on this sleep takes up  a big chunk of time. I firmly believe a focus on recovery is pretty key to being able to train consistently and race well.

WORK - Like many people work is a reality (Changing that reality is always possible but would have consequences beyond myself). My job does not involve manual labor however as demonstrated here it does take up time. Having said that though have used vacation at some key times this year to get in some key mid-week sessions.

TRIATHLON & RUNNING TRAINING - As you can see beyond work and sleep this is the next biggest box. This encompasses the time used to organize gear and do recovery activities as well. One of the things that I find helps in achieving this is incorporating sessions into my commute where possible. Leading up to a "A" race were sessions are quite specific and recovery time is at a premium is actually the hardest time to do this.

FAMILY & FRIENDS - In a big build the friends part of this gets squeezed. From a family perspective I am lucky to have a awesome wife who is extremely supportive of the madness!!! Come the off season/ winter build i will make sure to carve out more time for this space and appreciate the people who help support me.

RUN COACHING - Is another form of Work I suppose but is quite rewarding. Also do some recovery and strength stuff as part of this so it does have some side benefit in terms of training. One of my aims next year is to have my triathlon / running be close to neutral in terms of expense and income form this activity is a big part of the picture.

OTHER BOXES - Living life takes time, it is important to factor that in. In addition tot his I also volunteer on the board of my Triathlon Club and the Strata council at my building. One decision I made this year was to cut back the number of these commitments and this decision has helped the overall balance. Commuting is something that especially over the winter I like to combine with training to create some additional white space in my life.