I remember the moment when I almost crossed it off my list. Upon reflection, I’m really glad I didn’t. At the time, I had no idea that my happiness and success depended upon that one item I had hastily written out on my yellow pad.

The word I had written was: FRIENDS.

It sat about eight items down on my list, after my job, my child, my husband and a few other things I deemed crucial. FRIENDS came right below exercise and right above housekeeping.

I made the list because I was feeling completely overloaded. I had come back to work after having my first child, and there weren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. I decided to list all of my responsibilities and activities to see where I could cut.

It quickly became obvious that if I wanted to have enough time for my child, my spouse and my demanding job, and actually sleep at night, the list needed some major cuts. Time with friends seemed like a luxury, something that wasn’t crucial for my survival.

To be fair, I wasn’t planning to give up friendship completely, but I was thinking about drastically reducing the time I spent with my friends. Yet as I started to cross it off, my eyes began to fill with tears.

The logical part of my brain was saying you don’t have time for this.

My intuition, however, was telling me something else. My gut was saying that without friends your life will become a grind, and you won’t be able to do all those other things in the way that you want to. I wound up quitting my fancy 80-hour-a-week job and starting my own consulting practice. It wasn’t just to make time for friends, but that was a big part. I also wanted time to exercise and be with my child in an unhurried environment.

More than 20 years later, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. My friends (and regular exercise) kept me healthy in mind, body and spirit. My consulting practice flourished, and I made more money than I’d ever made in the corporate world.

But at the time, many of my former colleagues thought I was crazy. One said, “You’re quitting your job for friends and exercise?”

She thought I was nuts.

These days, most of us are clear about the emotional and physical benefits of exercise. High performers make time for exercise because it keeps us strong, centers our minds and increases our resilience.

But how many people with busy schedules make time for friends? Turns out, not many.

Since the 1980s, the rate of loneliness amongst adults has doubled from 20% to 40%. The worst rates of loneliness are found in people who have high-level jobs.

Friendship expert Shasta Nelson says that despite interacting with people all day, many of us lack deep friendships that buoy and sustain us. In her book “The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of Our Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time,” Nelson illustrates why friendship is crucial to our health and our careers.

We stand in a moment in time where many of us are feeling overwhelmed by our lives. As we look at our life to-do list trying to identify what is really important, does friendship make the cut?

I hope so. I kept it on my list, and I hope you can keep it on yours.

– Lisa Earle McLeod is a leadership consultant and the author of several books. For more information on her company, visit McLeodandMore.com.