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Is there really such a thing as work-life balance? Is there a perfect balance? Will we really be happy once we find our balance?

I believe that this ambiguous term can be described differently by each person depending on each person’s individual needs.

Our needs can be as distinctive as we are individuals and will depend on many factors: our age, marital status, whether we have children, our physical condition, health, income, and many others.

As I ponder this idea of work-life balance, I wonder if our ancestors enjoyed such a balance. I think of my grandparents who were poor farmers. Do you think they worried about such a balance?

My grandmother had ten children to take care of. I’m sure this was not even a concept that she could relate to. I’m sure she was more concerned about getting laundry done, cooking meals, and keeping her children and home clean and in line.

My grandfather had crops and animals to care for. Do you think he ever thought, “If only I could leave the field early today and have some downtime?” I imagine his thoughts were more along the line of “I have to get these crops harvested before sunset so my family can eat the rest of the year.” Remember, he had ten children to feed.

I think they lived a life of doing whatever they had to do to get by.

I believe that today’s balance issues are somewhat self-induced. I think that it’s more a lack of boundaries and self-care that creates the out-of-balanced feeling.

Being in balance is not only about what you do with your time. It’s also about how you feel and what you think about.

KNOW WHO YOU ARE

Knowing who you are, where your boundaries are, and taking the time to take care of yourself is vital in achieving balance.

It is your personal responsibility to make sure your needs are met.

You need to take the time to plan, prioritize and schedule techniques and habits into your day that help life work for you.

Think about what is most important to you and try some of these ideas:

• Stop multitasking. It always creates stress and is taxing on the brain. Focus on one thing at a time and you will perform more effectively and have more energy.

• Limit or eliminate distractions. There are so many things competing for your attention. You can maximize productivity by avoiding distractions and staying focused. You can’t get your work done if you’re distracted. Learn to limit low-priority tasks competing for your attention and fine-tune your focus.

• Schedule time in your calendar. Include time for exercise, duties, projects, errands, lunch, meetings, phone calls, planning, and even fun. This will help you reassess your priorities. But remember not to schedule every minute of your day because we all have those unexpected things come up and need room for those as well. What you didn’t have time for, let it go and let go of the guilt! Learn to let go of those things you can’t control. Your load will feel much lighter. Order your calendar now.

• Replace bad habits with good habits. How many times do you hit the snooze on your alarm in the morning? Do you skip breakfast, lunch, or eat at your desk? Do you stress eat? Do you say yes too often? You may need to re-think your habits and rituals. Create a home and work strategy to take better care of yourself! The cost of practicing good habits is small but the benefits are great. If you don’t take care of yourself, who will?

• Admit when you need help. You weren’t meant to do everything yourself. Your maker gave you helpers. Take advantage of them and delegate. That might be your spouse, your kids, your friends, your co-workers, or a virtual assistant. A sense of balance comes from a spirit of collaboration.

• Use your vacation time. It’s yours. You earned it and you deserve it. Plan your trip now and find deals on events at your destination.

• Change your environment. If you’re tired all the time, overloaded, and not appreciated for your hard work and contributions, it may be time for a change. If your manager or company doesn’t respect that you have a life outside of work and value people as assets, it may not be a good fit. If you don’t work with people that share your philosophy, values or mindset, it may not be the right culture for you. You decide what is best for you.

• Take time for spiritual and personal growth. It is amazing how much better I feel after church or after creating something new. Use the other side of your brain for a change and pursue other interests. It is very enriching and rewarding. You may want to take a yoga class or learn to dance; take piano lessons or learn to knit; find a craft you enjoy or learn to play the guitar; read a book or attend a spiritual retreat; meditate or write poetry.

• Create a vision board. A vision board is a blueprint for your life.  It will help you keep your goals at the forefront of your mind. Vision boards work in every area of your life.  Whether it’s your business, wealth, relationships, health, or plans to travel. Creating a vision board is a working system in which you can record all the things you want to attract into your life.

Conclusion

I guess we should be thankful that we live in a time today when we can even conceive of the notion of work-life balance.

Even if we don’t achieve it fully, we can be thankful that we can try and probably do find some moments of balance. 🙏

Feel free to contact me if I can help take some of those smaller or routine tasks off your plate to free up your time for the bigger and more important tasks.