Do Your Values Match Your Calendar?

Busyness gets treated as a badge of honor in a lot of professional cultures, medicine included. But being busy and being aligned with what actually matters aren't the same thing, and it's worth checking honestly which one is actually happening.

A Simple, Revealing Exercise

Start by listing genuine core values, what actually matters most, stripped of assumption or obligation. Then, open an actual calendar from the past week or two and compare the two side by side.

The question worth asking directly: is there a genuine correlation, or a real mismatch? Is time actually going toward what was just identified as most important, or is it primarily consumed by whatever happened to demand attention, regardless of whether it aligns with those stated values?

Why This Exercise Matters

It's easy to assume time naturally reflects priorities, simply because a lot of activity is happening. This exercise tends to reveal something more specific and often less comfortable: a lot of time frequently goes toward things that were never actually chosen deliberately, they simply filled the space by default.

Seeing genuine alignment, or its absence, in concrete terms, an actual calendar next to an actual values list, provides a clarity that vague self-assessment rarely produces on its own.

What to Do With the Results

If the calendar largely reflects genuine values, that's worth recognizing and continuing intentionally. If there's a real mismatch, that's useful, actionable information, a specific starting point for reconsidering what's currently occupying time by default, and what might be deliberately removed or protected instead.

The Bottom Line

Redefining productivity as genuine alignment with actual values, rather than simply how much gets fit into a day, starts with an honest, concrete comparison between stated priorities and actual time use. This exercise doesn't require elaborate planning, just genuine honesty about what the numbers actually show.

FAQ

Why compare values to a calendar instead of just reflecting on priorities generally? A concrete comparison between an actual values list and actual time use reveals specific, honest patterns that vague self-reflection often misses or rationalizes away.

What should someone do if their calendar doesn't match their stated values? Use the mismatch as a starting point for identifying specific commitments that could be reduced or removed, making room for activities that genuinely reflect what matters most.

How often should this exercise be repeated? Revisiting it periodically, especially after a major life or schedule change, helps ensure ongoing alignment, since priorities and actual time use can drift gradually without regular, deliberate checks.