by Ted A. Moreno
My oldest daughter, whom I affectionately refer to as the Chick, recently learned how to ride her two wheel bike. It took a few miles of Dad huffing and puffing, running behind her while holding her bike. Then, one day, she got it. She got balance. Once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work that way with achieving balance in life. Lately, many folks have said to me :”I just can’t seem to get balance in my life.” Striking the perfect balance between work and play, solitude and relationship, and activity and rest seems to be elusive for many, yet most see a real need for balance.
Balance requires requires personal inventory. You actually have to sit down and ask yourself: “What do I need in my life to keep me feeling grounded, healthy and happy?” If you can get clear what those things are, then you can begin to create strategies to have them in your life more often.
Life is like a pendulum. There are times when you will have to spend more time at work, and other things will have be to put aside. There will be times when your regular workout schedule will be consistent, then something will happen to derail you. The key to balance is to keep the pendulum as close to the middle as possible, realizing that sometimes that will not be possible. When it’s not, you’ll want to swing it back to the other side as soon as you can. Balance is the difference between “I’m too busy now to exercise” and “I’m busy now but I have planned time in a week to get some exercise.” It requires awareness, intention and a plan.
Here are 16 things to think about to bring more balance into two areas of life: work and family.
Work:
- Plan the night before. Jim Rohn said “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” Start running the day the night before by making a list, prioritizing, and having a plan. Make sure there is gas in your car, your lunchbox is packed, you know what you’re going to wear and the coffeepot is ready to rock and roll.
- Eat regularly. Nothing upsets balance like not having the proper nutrition in place. Don’t skip meals. Avoid the candy bowl or donut box. If there is a fridge at your work, put healthy snacks in it.
- Take breaks. If you work for someone else you are entitled to breaks. Take them. If you work for yourself, work in increments such as an hour or two hours, then take a 10 minute break. If you sit at a desk all day: every hour get up and MOVE your body.
- Get to work on time, leave on time, if at all possible. It’s said that nobody on their death bed ever said they wish they’d spent more time at the office.
- Don’t let technology sabotage your productivity. If you can close email for periods of time, do it. Choose not to answer the phone if you don’t have to and close email when you need to focus. Designate blocks of time when you will check email and (more…)