4 Ways to Bring Your Life into Better Balance

Leading a balanced life is extremely important for our well-being, but it is something that many of us struggle with.

How balanced is your life?

Here are some things to consider:

• Work & life – Work is important, but so is your personal life. Often the demands of work make it hard for us to find time to spend for ourselves or with our families. Try not to let work overtake your life. Schedule time on your calendar for yourself; to play squash, get a manicure or join a friend for Happy Hour. And do all you can to make it home in time to have dinner with your family and to leave work in time to see your daughter play softball. Remember that nobody on their deathbed says they wish they had spent more time at the office!
• Doing & being – Most of us spend long intervals of time focused on our work, taking little time for rest and renewal. But research shows that we are much more productive when we work in shorter intervals with time in between to recharge. So make sure you get enough sleep and take frequent breaks throughout the day. Check out The Energy Project if you’d like to know more. Here you can see the sleep pods used at the Huffington Post.
• Together & alone – Spending time with others boosts our mood and strengthens our relationships. But it is also important to spend time alone. Solitude gives us the opportunity to clear our mind, reflect, concentrate, and increase our self-awareness. What do you need to do to create more balance? Do you need to find ways to spend more time with others or do you need to schedule some “alone time” in your calendar?
• Present & future – Mindfulness or focusing on the present moment keeps us positive by preventing us from bringing up negative emotions associated with the past or worrying about the future. But in his book, Making Hope Happen, Shane Lopez explains how having hope for the future inspires and engages us. So we also need to spend time thinking about our future, setting goals and planning how we will achieve them.

What will you do today to start bringing your life into better balance?