Do you find yourself trying to constantly balance your life? Walking that tightrope that ensures you have a good life balance?
Talking to both my clients and friends, it seems that we either have SO much going on in our lives that we feel exhausted, or the diary is looking so empty we go into panic mode, trying to fill it up, leaving us feeling exhausted AGAIN!
So how do we find a good life balance?
Our social diaries can be dictated by the time of year – certain months lend themselves to activities or events and these need to be considered. If summer is particularly busy for you because of childcare or outdoorsy stuff that you like to take advantage of, don’t plan to have your bathroom refitted in those months.
What month is your busiest time?
If there is a particular week/month in your diary where work goes mad, identify it, especially if it’s a regular occurrence. Avoid organising anything else around that time.
Does December arrive and you find yourself juggling festive social events and Christmas preparations along with normal life? It happens every year, yet we still let it get frantic. Why do we fill our diaries and just expect ourselves to cope with it all?
The key to balance: Recognising what we can and can’t do.
I suspect many of us say yes to certain things for fear of either missing out OR suddenly having too much free time. Recognising that we only have limited energy reserves and being a bit more discerning about what we say yes to, will help us feel more balanced.
At the beginning of each year, one thing I recommend to my clients is when they’re writing birthdays on the new year calendar (yes, some of us still do that), identify the pressure points. Remind yourself of where you need to find the balance.
Plan ahead for the busiest months.
Once you know the months that are traditionally busy or even the ones that are traditionally quiet, you can plan accordingly. Obviously, life gives us curve balls and we can’t know what they are and anyway, why would we want to lose all spontaneity?
Although November might not feel like the right month to be planning our year ahead, January is just around the corner. If we reflect now, consider what has worked well this year or what hasn’t worked as we wished, we can start putting things in place to feel more balanced for the year ahead.
