Hello, friend!
For the longest time, I have strived to have the “perfect” work life balance only to come to the realization that I do not think it is actually possible. You may be able to create balance but is it truly sustainable. Seriously, I am not sure if I know anyone who has this perfectly figured out. We all feel the pressure at times from work and our personal life may suffer. Maybe we are spending too much time working and not enough quality time with our loved ones. Maybe we get home and are so exhausted from work that all we want to do is order in pizza and binge watch Netflix. Sound familiar!!
What does work-life balance even mean?
It was extremely challenging for me to try to come to grips with the reality of work-life balance and, at times, I did experience that dreaded “mom guilt”. Our work life and our personal life both have ebbs and flows and depending on what is happening in one’s life, one area may get more attention than the other and unfortunately for most of us, it is usually work. Don’t get me wrong! I LOVE my career; but, it comes with high expectations and demands, just like any career.
I am going to share a piece of wisdom that I have learned over the years. Here goes: work-life balance is a myth. As a Type E personality — trying to be everything to everybody–it puts extreme pressure on oneself to be perfect. The picture that you present to outsiders is one where you have nailed this work-life balance when in fact, you feel like you are on a hamster wheel–trying to keep up.
Today I can say that I am “perfectly imperfect’ and that is okay! I have discovered a few work-life balance hacks that have allowed me to live a more intentional life and has allowed me to maintain a more fulfilling work life balance.
I would love to share them with you!
Here are 8 hacks that can help you maintain a better work-life balance:
- Know your values – when you understand your values, it helps to create a work-life balance that focuses on what is important to you.
- Master time management – use whatever system works for you in order to plan out your time. Learn to prioritize, plan and delegate your daily, weekly and monthly tasks. You will be pleasantly surprised to see how much you can accomplish in a work day and even being able to carve out time for self-care and family.
- Ask for help – don’t be afraid to ask for help. If your child plays sports, why not arrange with another parent to do the drop off and you can do the pick up. I would imagine that is a win-win for you and the other mom! What other ways can you ask for help?
- Have a work-stop time- create an end of work stop time! One of the things I noticed during COVID was that my work day no longer had a natural end-of-day. I would find myself working until 6 or 7 pm in my home office where my daughter would peek her head in to see what I was doing. Sounds crazy, right!
- Do work you love – seriously people, do work you love! You need to make sure that you find a career that you really love. I have been working in education for over 27 years and LOVE my job. There are some parts of my job that I love more than other parts but everyday I go to work with a smile on my face.
- Self-care – if you are not looking after yourself, it becomes extremely hard to look after others. Self-care should focus on your spiritual, mental and physical wellbeing. I have started to wake up earlier in order to practice self-care. I have purchased an online home exercise program that consists of 30 minute workouts which are quick and easy to do before I shower and head off to work. Listening to podcasts on topics that I like as I drive to work has been great.
- Work on the weekend – Yesss!!! I said work on the weekend. This is something that I do to help balance out my work week. What I have found is that if I do something everyday, it can free up time during the week.
- Block in free time – use your calendar (I love my Ultimate Planner) and block in free time. Creating a date night with your spouse/partner or kids is always fun! On Friday nights, we usually order in and watch a movie. As a kid, we would often eat out on Fridays. We would pile into my parents baby blue station wagon and head off to supper. Here is an idea that was shared with me by one of my friends that you could try during your blocked free time. Grab a jar and have everyone in the family put in fun activities that they would like to do. For example, it may be going for a hike, playing board games, going swimming, or whatever you and your family like to do. Have one family member pull out an activity and that is what you will do in the “free time”. Do not put the activity back in the jar. The next week you can have someone else pull out an activity until you have done all of the activities in the jar.
If you are struggling with your work-life balance and are feeling overwhelmed and stressed, begin with one or two of these hacks and create gradual habit changes in your life. What action can you take today that will help bring your life into alignment?
Heather is an executive coach who helps busy working moms who are feeling overwhelmed and stressed to create gradual habit changes in order to avoid burnout, set boundaries and to lead fulfilling and happy lives.