Today, I would like you to look at your life balance.
Below, I’ve made a list of ways to ensure your life is balanced. If you’re currently letting a large amount of commitments get in your way, start adding these suggestions into your life each week, rather than trying to change everything all at once.
- Plan one hour’s relaxation time for you into every day. Block it out in your diary.
- Get out into the fresh air for an hour every day.
- Delegate – at home or at work – get others to contribute. Don’t be a martyr.
- Say “no” – you don’t have to volunteer for everything you are asked to do.
- Seek out some solitude each day – time alone is energising.
- Plan a weekend event of some sort, or a day out, every 4-6 weeks.
- Make a list of what you must get through in a day, or week, and what you would like to get through. Tackle the former and ignore the latter.
- Write a to-do list every night- and stick to it the following day.
- Get a cleaner if you can afford to for 2-3 hours a week.
- Internet shop for groceries- save yourself 2-3 hours a week.
- Turn off your mobile -don’t take work calls at home.
- Let the answerphone take calls that are not urgent.
- Don’t check your work emails when you are not at work.
- Leave work on time at least two evenings a week.
- Have some FUN! Spend time with friends who make you feel good, or do something that makes you feel good, at least twice a week.
- Get a perspective – when you are frazzled, ask “Will this matter this time next week, next month, next year? If not, let go of the worry and anxiety.
- Take up a new hobby – this time of year is a great month to start new classes and courses.
- Make one “healthy eating” change to boost your energy levels – such as reducing caffeine, alcohol, sugary snacks, or reliance on ready meals.
- Seriously consider a career-change, or working part time, if your job dominates your life and is affecting your health. There are always alternatives, even if it means a reduction in your income.
- Stop feeling guilty! Praise yourself for what you have achieved at the end of every day!
How many of these do you practise on a day to day basis? You probably won’t be that surprised to hear that many people don’t manage any of these basic life balance requirements. If you were surprised by how little you do for yourself, it’s time to make a change.
Change Your Thought Processes
If you’re struggling to achieve a basic life balance, here’s some advice…
- Let go of your personal history. Accept it, understand it (Get help with this if you need to) and then move on. No one can upset you, no one can ‘make’ you angry unless you allow them to. Losing the blame is incredibly self-empowering because then you can begin to take control of the only thing you have and that is the way you ‘allow‘ yourself to react to somebody else’s actions or situation.
- Remove pressuring dictating words from your language. Words such as ‘You should do this’, ‘You must do that’. Learn to release your control a little on how you need things to be in your life. Tell yourself that you can want things a certain way but you don’t ‘need’ them to be that way in order for you to be happy.
- Drop negative labels such as; ‘I’m so useless’, problematic thinking can make us feel low.
- Stop confusing thought with fact. This is what happens when you think something and act as if it were true. Just because you believe something to be true does not necessarily mean that it is. It is simply your perception of the facts based on past experiences and unhelpful distorted irrational thinking.
- Believe in yourself. No one can experience life exactly the way you do. By believing in your own judgement, gaining a sense of independence and knowing that you can handle anything, good or bad will help you to continue to grow.
- Do not allow yourself to go through life living out unfulfilled dreams. If you want to give up your job and train as something else, what’s stopping you? Often it is based around the fear of failure.
- Visualise yourself living the life you want to lead and then get to work on making it happen by only focusing on positive steps and blocking out any negative, unhelpful thoughts.
- Become more mindful, practice living in the moment, rather than stressing about the past and dreading the future.