Many of us strive to find balance with our work, family, relationships, wellness, etc. We all want to feel like we’re on top of everything in our lives, but there’s so much stuff to do that it rarely feels that way.
In our society, there’s this pressure to spend time with your family, hang out with friends, be with your partner, eat well, exercise often, travel the globe, side-hustle, and post consistently on Instagram (only sort of kidding on that last one).
With so many responsibilities, how can we possibly juggle our time, energy, and attention between them all?
I don’t believe we’ll ever be 100% balanced, but there are ways to make balance more attainable. The important thing is figuring out what makes you feel balanced and how you can let go of things you don’t need in your life.
I want to share how I attempt to find balance between work, relationships, and self-care in my life, especially because I have quite a few things to juggle right now. Though I may be busy, I don’t like to use ‘busy’ as an excuse for not showing up in my life.
In this post, I’m sharing how you can balance a busy schedule to have more time for what matters. Keep reading for 6 tips to find balance with a busy schedule!
The Balance Equation
When people ask what I’ve been up to lately or how life is going, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my own answer. My life has become considerably busier over the past few months.
As many of you know, I transitioned away from my full-time job in July 2017 to pursue self-employment (here’s my one-year update on that!).
For the first six months of self-employment, I focused solely on coaching and writing. My whole schedule revolved around The Blissful Mind.
Fast forward to March of 2018 and things started to look a little different. I started a part-time job in the evenings (it’s remote, which is a blessing), and I was also roped into coaching my former high school’s dance team.
Now, my schedule is quite different from what it once was. I spend my mornings and afternoons working on The Blissful Mind, 4-6 hours a week with the dance team, and 15 hours a week in the evenings doing my part-time job. On top of all that, I’m fitting in time to be with my boyfriend, for family dinners, and for practicing self-care.
It’s easy to feel totally unbalanced when you have to juggle so many things at once. The balancing act isn’t easy, and it doesn’t always work out as planned. However, there are a few key things that help me find balance with a busy schedule.
6 Ways To Find Balance
1. Be realistic with your time
There’s only so much you can do in a day. If you’re trying to cram in too much into your schedule for the sake of “balance”, it’s only going to overwhelm you. You’ll also feel guilty when you can’t do it all. Instead, look at your weekly schedule and see what’s actually reasonable for you in terms of time and energy.
Related Post: How To Create More Structure In Your Life
2. Let go of guilt
The feeling that we “should” do something is the worst. It only makes us feel trapped into doing things that don’t always serve us. If you don’t want to go to that party, you don’t have to go just because you were invited. You also don’t have to feel guilty about not being social if it’s not what you need at that moment in time. Take the pressure off yourself and focus on activities with people (or no people) that give you energetic alignment.
Related: 5 Ways To Say No And Stop Over-Committing Yourself
3. Become self-aware
A self-awareness exercise I like to do with my coaching clients is the wellness wheel. With the wellness wheel, you rank your level of satisfaction in different areas of your life (health, relationships, work, family, etc.) on a scale of 1-10. People are often surprised when they see their results because they realize they were overlooking certain areas of their lives. Try the wellness wheel exercise yourself so you can figure out exactly how to bring more balance into your life.
Related Post: Why Self-Awareness Is Your Greatest Asset
4. Make sacrifices
You have to make choices that bring you closer to what’s important and that means making sacrifices with your time. You might have to give up an extra hour of sleep to make it to the gym or say no to drinks with friends so you can spend time with your family. Balance is all about making those choices that suck at first but pay off in the long run.
Related Post: 5 Reasons You’re Struggling To Find Balance In Life
5. Choose quality over quantity
Balance is all about choosing quality over quantity. Often we look at balance in terms of how much time we dedicate to things, but actually it’s about how much effort we put into them. After all, spending hours with friends doesn’t mean much if you’re staring at your phone the whole time. When you’re with the ones you love, make sure you’re staying present and actively listening and engaging with them. That way, you’ll get more out of the time you spend with them even it’s only a few minutes.
Related Post: How To Connect More Deeply With Yourself And Others This Year
6. Get organized
There’s no way to fit everything in if you don’t MAKE time for what matters. Plan, plan, plan, and stick to it. For example, I plan out my day with what workout I’ll do in the morning, what my priorities are for the day, and what time I plan to work on each project. I know planning feels like the opposite of balance, but it helps you create space for what you want to do and who you want to spend time with (even if that’s yourself). That being said, don’t be afraid to be spontaneous sometimes. Spontaneity is good for balance ;)
Related Post: A Simple Way To Plan Your Day For Success
How do you find balance when busy?
I hope this post has given you some actionable tips to help you feel more balanced, even with a busy schedule. Remember that being busy isn’t a badge of honor, and it’s important that you stay present and aware with what’s going on in your life. Once you’ve mastered this, balance won’t feel so far off after all.
Get the Mind, Body, Balance Guide here.
9 Responses
The link for the wellness wheel quiz only shows the wheel. I don’t see the quiz. Would like to try that.
Great suggestions. Thx for the candor.
Hey Joanna, it’s more of a self-guided exercise than an actual quiz. You can just grab a piece of paper and write down how you’d rank each area from 1-10.
Hi Catherine! I love, this. I can totally relate to what you’re experiencing. As someone who is balancing 2 part-time jobs, a blog, and a weekly volunteer commitment, it can often feel like too much. However, I’m right there with you, I think planning well and being organized with your time is absolutely crucial, like you mentioned!
You go, girl! That’s a lot to juggle. I would not be able to handle it if I didn’t stay on top of my planning haha
Great post! Atm, I’m balancing two blogs, writing a book and trying to have a bit of social life, it can get overwhelming! I’m always planning everything in advance but, most importantly, I get clear on my priorities. If something isn’t a priority, there’s no point cramming it into my already busy day and killing myself to do it. Much better use that time to rest so I can focus on what really matters the next day.
Wow, that’s amazing, Giorgia! Two blogs and a book is incredible. Priorities are key (and making sure that everything doesn’t somehow become a priority in the process)
Awesome post! I loved how you talked about staying present and making the most out of your time with family and friends. It’s so much harder to be engaged with all of life’s distractions these days, but putting your phone down and living in the moment is so worth it.
It’s hard for sure, but so worth it! It’s so funny to think that when I was in high school (aka 10 years ago), social media was barely a thing. Crazy how things change.