Life Balance

Balance in life is more important than many people think. We all have the same amount of hours in a day, of which 7-8 hours is advised to be used for sleep/rest, and a full-time work position requires around 8 hours a day. That leaves us with only 8 hours (plus our non-work days) to fit in the other daily basics and whatever else we would like to do. Some people may think that balance means we need to divide our waking hours evenly, but that isn’t practical or possible.

Let’s have a look at what life balance is NOT… It is about not consistently stealing your sleep/rest time, or repeatedly working extra hours. There will possibly be times when it is necessary to work more and/or sleep less (or vice versa), but these times should only be few and far between, the key is not allowing the exception to become ‘normal’.

Balance is also about not neglecting important areas of life, being: self-care, time with family/friends, health & fitness, learning/doing new things and other activities that you enjoy.

Life is often serving up all sorts of challenges that we need to manoeuvre around or adapt to, and that sometimes does make it hard to achieve great balance. However, it is well worth working toward life balance, not only for you, but also for your loved ones. Because, what is the point of working extra hours in the attempt to create ‘a good life’ for your family if you end up making yourself burnout, or you’re hardly ever there to be with them?

So, how do we create balance? I recommend…

* Conducting a time audit (see where you’re currently spending the hours each day)

* Set boundaries (and use assertiveness)

* Delegate or outsource when needed

* Include Self-Care

* Create a new weekly schedule that includes all areas of your life
(also some of the activities that make you feel good).

You may need to evaluate your values and set some small goals.
Let me know if you would like some help with that.