Copyright 2026 George M Fournier, MBA version 7.16.2026
A six part survey · about 20 minutes
This survey takes an honest look at where your time and energy really go across 16 areas of life. In six parts, you will map your week, chart the results, decide what to change, and leave with an action plan. The exercise is based on Rainer Strack's Strategic Life Portfolio method. As you answer, think of an average week over the past 12 months rather than just last week.
Before you begin
Our goals and objectives change as we age. Some of us plan to attend college, start a family, or launch a new business. Others focus on financial security and early retirement. Some seek a relaxed family life or greater peace and tranquility. And some of us dream of owning big, shiny toys.
Failing to plan is planning for failure in business and in life. If we prepare our minds and bodies for a task, even a small task, we can achieve it because we practice direction. Direction becomes experience. In the bible, so as we think, so to do we become.
This exercise helps students of every age to examine personal priorities, life goals, and time allocation across 16 strategic life factors. We can shift our priorities in bad economic weather or personal tragedy. In the end, life happens. Plan. Be prepared.
What does a great life mean to you? Start here.
Here's the journey: six parts, start to finish
Let's start with three basic questions. Take your time. Your answers here become the lens for everything that follows. There are no wrong answers and no scores.
1) Time, 2) Importance & 3) Satisfaction. How much time in hours per 168 hour week (X / 168) do you spend on each area? Sleep 8 hours a day? 8x7=56 hours per week. The bar adds your hours until you reach 168 hours. Importance. How IMPORTANT is this area of your life on a scale from 1 to 10. Satisfaction. How SATISFIED are you with this area of your life on a scale from 1 to 10?
Let's make sure the numbers hold together. These checks update as you go. When they're all green, your portfolio is ready to read.
You can change your ratings and the graph changes. The farther right a bubble appears on the X-axis, the greater your SATISFACTION. The higher it appears on the Y-axis, the greater its IMPORTANCE. The size of each bubble represents the number of hours you spend on that activity. The upper left quadrant is where factors matter the most, but aren't getting the attention they deserve.
Three quick calculations to point you at what matters most. Pressure is importance × (10 minus satisfaction). The higher the score, the more that area is asking for your attention. Target hours shows what your week would look like if time simply followed importance (a compass, not a schedule). Time gap is target minus current: positive means an area may be starved for time; negative means there may be hours to win back.
| Life area | Importance | Satisfaction | Hours / wk | Quadrant | Pressure | Target h | Time gap |
|---|
We cannot fix everything at once. Three small steps in the right direction. These three areas need your attention. For each one, commit to one concrete change. Ask yourself, can I actually influence this? How will change affect the other areas of my life/week? Here we begin to plan for change. Here we set direction.
One clear and concise summary, no longer than one page. It shows how your Part 1 goals connect to your Part 5 objectives, with a timeline of benchmarks and milestones for the next 30, 60 and 90 days. It updates as you refine your answers above.