How to Attain Work Life Balance
How to attain work-life balance
Finding the balance between pursuing career advancement and nurturing a healthy and peaceful social life has been a challenge. As I steadily approach my 30s, I am more conscious of how the decisions I'm making now should set me up for success in the next decade and beyond. Work-life balance is exactly what the phrase denotes, it's a balancing act! Sometimes your work takes priority and other times your personal life takes priority. Here are my tips on how to attain work-life balance.
Identify your priorities for the year
To attain a work-life balance, you must decide what is important for you to have this year. You may also need to prioritize how you want to feel this year. Maybe last year was your grinding year and this year you want to relax more so you may put more things in the personal life bucket and take things out of the carrier bucket. Whatever it is you wanna do or accomplish, your priorities will shape how you balance your work schedule and your personal schedule.
Set Goals for the year
The best way to identify your priorities is to write out all your goals for the year and then place them in order of importance. I have a few suggestions of the type of goals you should look at so that you can think of your life holistically.
Types of goals to set this year:
Health goals
You may not think too much of your health if your body/mind is relatively in good condition, but do not wait until something goes wrong to take care of your physical or mental health. Consider what you’re eating, how much sleep you’re getting, how you are resting, if you’re getting enough physical activity, and even your thinking patterns. I know it’s difficult to be consistent with our health goals, but the first step is to set them so that you can keep yourself accountable.
Financial goals
You must make realistic and attainable financial goals as well as goals for the future. Your financial goals will influence the type of job you have or the types of jobs you apply for. Your finances will influence where you live, the clothes you wear, etcetera so take this goal seriously.
Relationship goals
Set goals for your platonic, romantic, and family relationships. As we get older it can be difficult to invest time and energy into every relationship. Relationship goals help keep you accountable for how you are maintaining your connection to loved ones or how you may need to develop more connections with people that you love. This goal is also important because the quality of relationships we have makes a big impact on our mental well-being, our joy, and our sense of happiness.
Career goals
Career goals sometimes go together with financial goals but also could be tied to your gifts and talents. Whether you are working in a field that pays the bills or you’re doing something that you love, it’s always important to write some goals for yourself for where you wanna be in your career. It’s easy to get caught up in the rat race, so setting goals for your career prevents you from being stagnant and dissatisfied.
Spiritual goals
Every year, God has new blessings and assignments waiting for us. I recommend starting your year with a fast, to prepare your heart for what God has in store for you. Fasting is a great way to remove distractions and recenter yourself. If you’re not able to fast, you should still set aside time to delve into God’s word and set some spiritual goals for the new year.
Enjoyment goals
All work and no play will make you go crazy so prioritize resting and enjoyment. Figure out what experiences you enjoy and whom you enjoy having them with and make some enjoyment goes for the new year. You can strategically place your enjoyment goals as rewards for periods when you work hard or as moments to rest and recharge.
Take some time before 2022 gets too busy and write down your goals, then prioritize them.
Determine what you are willing to sacrifice
As human beings, we are limited and cannot do everything or be everywhere, therefore, to attain one thing you must sacrifice another. To find a balance between what you want and where you currently are, you may need to make some structural changes to your life. It is up to you to decide, based on your priorities what you are willing to sacrifice to have success in another area of your life. When we think of sacrifice, we perceive it negatively, but sacrificing just means you are making space for more of what you want and taking away things that are not beneficial now. For example, a priority of mine is financial stability/security which requires me to pick up new responsibilities so I can have more streams of income. Trying to make more money will take up more of my time and reduce the amount of time I for the fun stuff. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to be outside! I love going out to eat, I love hanging out with friends, I love going to concerts and just generally enjoying experiences. However, this year is my year to stay focused and save money which means sacrificing my fun activities to be more financially responsible. I can look at this situation from a “glass half empty” perspective or I can focus on how beneficial it will be when I reach my financial goals. My excitement for achieving my goals will motivate me to be content and happy with the sacrifices that I have made.
Use your resources
Part of the reason people struggle to balance their responsibilities is that they are trying to do it all on their own. Suffering is not an accomplishment! If you can use your resources or outsource something, please do it. I grew up thinking that I had to do everything myself and I learned the hard way that I will burn out fast if I continue like that. I have now learned that the most valuable thing I have is my time! Using your resources may look like getting groceries delivered to your house or paying for cleaning services. Using your resources can also look like asking a family member to babysit your children or asking a coworker to partner with you on a hard project. Hyper-independence is a trauma response that derives from a fear that you are on your own and no one else will help or support you. Please remember that you are not an island and you do not have to do it all on your own so tap into your ecosystem and use your recourses.
Those are all the tips I can come up with for now but it’s important to note that your priorities may shift halfway through the year so do not feel obligated to stick to the goals you set at the beginning of the year. Remember work-life balance is about balancing what is most important to you and what is most important at that moment in time. So, this year try to show yourself some grace as you balance the things you have to do with the things you want to do.
Stay safe and stay original.
