About a year ago, I was working too many hours. I had a huge project at work and there were too many tasks to get them all done. I often was one of the last to leave.

The man who cleaned our floor would frequently tell me I was working too many hours. Some evenings, he said he would swing back on his rounds and make sure I was leaving or, better yet, gone. I was fortunate that he helped encourage me to break a bad cycle.

The same thing happened to a friend of mine, who also was working too much. Her cleaning person stopped her one night and asked her,

“What’s your more?”

My friend looked at her, slightly confused.

The woman challenged her and asked her, “What do you want to be doing more of?”

From that night forward, my friend made a commitment to herself to leave work at a reasonable hour and to spend more time doing the things she loved.

Fortunately, we were both sharing our stories while on vacation together in Europe. Clearly, we had listened.

It’s easy to get caught up in tasks and quickly lose sight of “our more.” I keep a notebook with me for jotting notes and whenever I start a new one, I devote the first page to listing my boundaries and the things I want to be doing more of.

My boundaries are simple. I have a set time I need to leave the office, and I schedule time for buying healthy groceries and cooking meals (usually Sunday evening).

My “more” consists of time with friends, mini vacations, gardening, walking and reading. As long as I’m consistently spending time in my “more” space, I know I have balance in my life.

What’s your more?