Balance

Every morning, you wake up and plan your day. As you begin to start with your first planned task, you are pulled in a different direction and it continues throughout the day. When you are finally able to return to the planned task, you realize it’s the end of the day and nothing you had planned has been completed. What do you do? Which part of your life now has to suffer in order to complete your tasks?

It could be work that you’re having trouble balancing. Or maybe its home life and the kids’ activities. Or maybe its all of it combined. At what point do you accept that you’re human and do not posses the super powers of magic to get everything complete?

For me, my moment was when I realized that I was not writing or reading as much as I would have liked to because I was working at home at night and on the weekends. I wasn’t spending time with God everyday like I had either and I could tell the difference within myself. I didn’t have peace and I was exhausted. I knew that I needed to limit working at night and on the weekends and I had to create a boundary for myself. I no longer work after work or on the weekends. If I didn’t, I would have worked nearly 24/7 and I can’t do that for my own sanity.

I was also missing moments with my loved ones. Yes, I may have been in the same room but I wasn’t truly there mentally in that present moment. Time can’t be redone. We lose special moments to make memories and just relax with our loved ones when we decide that work or another task is more important. Listen to me, work will always be there.

Don’t sacrifice work for family. Your relationships with your family is 100% more important than finish a spreadsheet or running a report.

Create a calendar and stick to it. Sometimes you’ll have to say no to a friend’s dinner invite or an after work activity. You have to decide what’s more valuable.