You may find comfort in your daily routines because you feel like you can control what to expect from your day. Is your daily routine becoming an obstacle to a healthier work-life balance?
Life in the 21st century has become quite hectic and you feel like you have to be available 24/7. Most families have two working parents because life is expensive. The daily demands of life have you juggling more “balls” than you can keep up with. It seems that everyone wants a piece of you. You want to be a good parent and participate as much as possible in your child’s academic and extracurricular activities. However, you have many job demands and expectations at work and in your personal life. Some days you just want to scream or crawl into a corner.
You are not alone. The average individual, whether male or female, feels the daily pressures of work-life balance and tries to face each day with new hope for a better day. Your hopes will not help you solve your work-life balance problems. Make today the day you take a stand and commit to balancing your life personally and professionally. It’s time to prioritize and take a look at your daily routine and see if it’s getting you closer to your goals and work-life balance.
Eliminate activities in your day that aren’t the right pieces to your puzzle for success. Is your life pot too full? What activities should be added or removed? Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a great foundation for putting together the puzzle pieces of your life. Make sure your physiological needs necessary to sustain life, such as water, air, food, and sleep, are met.
Are you eating from all five food groups in the right portions, have a healthy weight-for-height ratio, drink at least 6 eight-ounce glasses of water a day, exercise at least 20 minutes a day, and get at least 6 hours of sleep? one day,? These needs are necessary for you to have a solid foundation to put the puzzle pieces of your life together. Do you feel confident that you live in a safe place, have health insurance, job security, and financial reserves? These are some of the top issues people struggle with and can negatively affect your daily focus.
Are you happy with your work and do you feel that it is helping you to build the puzzle of your life? Are you meeting your social needs? You need to have a balance between work and home. Do you have friends that you talk to at least a couple of times a month and meet for a laugh? Do you give yourself permission to have “down time”. Do you feel that you belong to a group in which you share common interests? Do you have a support system with whom you can share your accomplishments and the “bumps in the road” of life? Do you give and receive love? Once you have a sense of belonging now your sense of importance as a person is evident. Self-esteem consists of self-respect, achievement, attention, recognition and reputation, need for knowledge, and aesthetics.
Every day learn something you knew and use it as one more piece to build your puzzle. Do what you can to reach your full potential as a person and don’t let work define who you want to be, but let it be a piece of your puzzle. Always strive to grow psychologically and let new opportunities help you grow more to contribute to your puzzle. Once you define your life goals, the necessary pieces to your puzzle will come together more easily than you expect. Your work life balance is up to you and the personal choices you make every day. Be your own self-motivator and when you feel like something in your day is getting in the way, fix the problem, ask for help, or talk to someone you respect to help you find a healthy solution at work or in your personal life.
Remember that life’s stressors are what you do with them. Don’t see your perceived obstacles as a red light, see them as a discovery opportunity to find another piece of your puzzle. It’s your life, make it as healthy and happy as you can. You can achieve a healthier work-life balance. The change starts with you. Invest in yourself every day for personal and professional success.