With all the attention being given to work and life balance these days, I thought it might be useful to give you a few tips about whether you really are struggling with work and life balance, or not.
What is true? Sometimes we feel like we are out of balance, but when we actually look at the numbers, it may not be true. By keeping track of how you spend your time, and assigning it to categories such as work, family, recreation, community, friends, etc., You may find that you are spending the appropriate amount of time with each of those things.
The caution here is to not look at one day, but more one-week, or even longer stretches of time as you make your assessment.
And it does happen that you have overloaded one or more of those categories, then the numbers will validate it, and it will enable you to take some actions to shift things around a bit.
Are your activities bleeding into each other? Sometimes, when people let work, family, community all take up space in their minds at the same time, the feeling of overwhelm can happen easily. I like to suggest that people work while they work, exercise while they’re exercising, and fully focus on the family when having family time. In other words, leave work at work. By switching your focus, you can actually give your brain a break, and this enables you to feel more fulfilled and more satisfied when you do return to it. Go from one thing to another, instead of trying to do it all at once.
Is your self-care, or lack of self-care adding to your feeling of poor work and life balance? In other words, if you are not getting enough sleep, you are more likely to feel overwhelmed and tired and unsatisfied with whatever task you are undertaking. The same with healthy eating, and making time for doing things you truly enjoy or find satisfaction.
Check your state of mind. I believe that balance is a feeling that you can control, or at least have more control over then you may think. By owning your own attitude, and living in the moment, you can enhance your feeling of satisfaction if you choose.
Take action. If you feel that your balance is out of whack, I challenge you to not be a victim of it, but to take some action to shift a few things around so that you can enable more work and life satisfaction. I know that it sounds simple to say, and it may be more difficult to do, but I don’t know about you, – when I can to take control of how I spend my time, and how I feel about it, I know that I’ve done the best that I can. I hope you can too!
Here is a quick balance assessment for you to try – and it’s FREE !!!
