The Life Pie: Balancing Your Time Through Self-Inquiry, Six Sigma, and Coaching

Take a moment. Draw a circle on a blank sheet of paper. This circle represents 100% of your time—all the hours you spend awake and asleep. Inside this circle lives your entire life: work, relationships, family, health, spirituality, and rest.

Now pause and contemplate: What compartments exist in your life, and how much time do you devote to each?

This exercise, sometimes called the Life Pie, is more than just time tracking—it’s a powerful self-inquiry practice rooted in mindfulness, holistic awareness, and practical systems thinking. By exploring your life through this lens, you gain a deeper understanding of how your choices align (or don’t align) with your values.

Step 1: Honest Awareness

Begin by sitting quietly, as though you were watching your own life on a movie screen. Without judgment, observe how you have been living and the choices you’ve made.

⚠️ This first step is crucial. If you don’t look honestly at your life—without denial or excuses—the rest of the process will only scratch the surface and won’t serve your highest truth.

Draw the compartments of your life inside the circle. These might include:

• Work or Career

• Relationships (family, friends, partner)

• Health & Body

• Spirituality or Inner Growth

• Creativity & Play

• Service & Contribution

• Rest & Sleep

Step 2: Apply Six Sigma Thinking

From a Six Sigma perspective, your life is a process system. Each compartment of your circle is a function that consumes time and energy. If one process is “overloaded” or another is neglected, imbalance occurs.

Ask yourself:

• Where am I overproducing (giving too much time/energy without return)?

• Where are there bottlenecks (stress, overwhelm, imbalance)?

• Where is there waste (time spent in distraction, avoidance, or unaligned habits)?

By applying LEAN thinking, you can begin to eliminate inefficiencies and create more flow, freeing up space for what matters most.

Step 3: Integrate Coaching Principles

As an ICF coaching practice, this is where inquiry turns to empowerment. Reflect on these questions:

• What are the compartments that truly matter most to me?

• Am I creating balance between them—or am I unconsciously prioritizing one at the expense of another?

• Where in my life have I become imbalanced, and how does this show up in my health, relationships, or energy?

• What small adjustments can I make this week to realign with my values?

Remember: coaching is not about “fixing” yourself—it’s about gaining clarity, making conscious choices, and moving toward alignment with your authentic self.

Step 4: Commit to Realignment

Once you’ve identified imbalance, create a simple action plan:

• Add more time to undernourished compartments (rest, creativity, or health).

• Reduce overcommitment in areas that drain you.

• Revisit this pie monthly to track progress.

When you regularly evaluate your “life pie,” you create a continuous improvement cycle—a personal Kaizen practice that keeps you aligned with both your inner truth and your outer responsibilities.

Final Reflection

Life is not meant to be perfectly divided but consciously designed. By integrating self-inquiry with Six Sigma principles and coaching techniques, you create a holistic system of awareness, balance, and intentional living.

Your circle is your truth. How you fill it is your power.