Part of being a great dad is keeping your calendar clear enough so you can spend time with your child and develop a close relationship. Dad Jeff Kirk, 2012 Colorado Dad of the year, told me about a choice he made to do this—he decided to turn down a promotion at work because of the extra travel and time it would cost him in being away from his 6 year old daughter. Is there anything in your life that you need to clear out to make room for spending time with your kid, even a difficult choice as Jeff had?
What Jeff understood was the need to focus on the important but non-urgent. Things in life can be put into four different categories and I give an example of each:
Important and Urgent—the need to get to work on time this morning.
Important and Non Urgent—the need to spend time with your kid
Unimportant and Non Urgent—watching TV
Unimportant and Urgent—the phone ringing
#2 is what people tend to put off but long term it's the most important things in life are in this section. List as many things as you can think of that fall into category 2 and make it a priority to act on them.
Once you see what's important but not urgent, see how you can schedule it in—but also look carefully at your whole schedule and be careful to what you say yes to because your time can quickly become filled up. It's a challenge to choose the best over what can be good.
Dad Scott Behson told me you can't have it all but you can have a lot. Dad Craig Haworth told me about how he prioritizes specific family nights so every night of the week doesn't get filled up with outside activities. Are you defining what's in front of you or are you letting things like soccer practice control you? Saying yes to one activity means saying no to another activity.
Is there anything on your weekly schedule that may be good, but could be replaced with something better? These are the types of questions every dad must be asking.