Finding Balance

“Having a life” means spending your time being productive and social in the outside world. While it’s important to stay in the loop and earn a living, it’s equally important to take time for yourself. After all, you are the primary figure in your life. Spend this Monday finding balance between what you do for others and what you do for yourself.

The key to achieving balance in your life is acknowledging that things can and will change. Balance is about learning to roll with the punches, ride the waves, and manage situations as they arise without becoming stressed. If stress starts taking over, look internally to refocus and put things in perspective. For example: If you have a complicated project, dedicate a few minutes to calming your mind. Maybe you’re dealing with the opinions of many people, juggling deadlines and priorities, or feeling overwhelmed. Balance this activity with something slower and quieter, such as deep breathing or a walk by yourself. If you can balance the way you get through experiences like this, you can use the same methods for nearly anything else.

Here are a few tips to finding balance:

Identify what is causing you stress. By isolating the root cause of stress, it may be easier to look at it objectively. From there, you can come up with a solution for clearing it out of your way.

Prioritize. Is there something you’ve been avoiding or neglecting? It might be time to set some time aside to deal with it and put something else on the backburner. Maybe you’ve been wanting to try a meditation practice or workout, or you have a pressing assignment or event coming up. Consider what can wait and what truly needs your attention now. The goal is to do one thing at a time, then move on to the next thing.

Act. Now that you’ve figured out what you need to do and what can wait, don’t stall. Remind yourself that you have found the time you need to accomplish what you want and will have time later to do the rest. You’re the captain of this ship!

Think of balance in terms of getting from Point A to Point B. If you’re driving to work and hit traffic, you can stay in traffic, become frazzled, and end up late for work. Or you can find a detour to try to make up for lost time. Balance is about navigating your daily life. If you’re in a situation that is causing you stress this Monday, take your go-to detour to get back on track.