Listening to an episode of the Tim Ferriss podcast recently, Tim talked the fact that he schedules a trip with his siblings and parents once a year to ensure that there is quality time each year that he can count on with them.  This made me think of my life with a couple of kids in college and another on the way next year.  While it is certainly joyful to have kids head off to the next phase of their lives, these events also bring the bittersweet realization that the majority of our time together has come to an end. 

The podcast led me to a blog post titled The Tail End by Tim Urban on his blog Wait But Why. 

The line that stuck out to me was the following one from Urban’s post:

“It turns out that when I graduated from high school, I had already used up 93% of my in-person parent time. I’m now enjoying the last 5% of that time. We’re in the tail end.”

The image below from the post also puts things in perspective in regards to the percentage of time we have with our children during their lifetime. 

As we are early on in a New Year, a point where many people try to look at their routines and behaviors in order to have a more meaningful 2018 and beyond, I think it is a good time to consider this. I struggle to think of situations that should take precedence over meaningful time with family.  So as you tweak your routines and priorities, I hope that you are able to consistently keep time with your loved ones at the top of your list.