By Georgina El Morshdy
Do you wish you felt successful and fulfilled in more areas of your life?
If so, you’re not alone. In our fast-paced world, there are always new opportunities to explore. No wonder there’s a part of us that wants more money, better relationships, optimum health, more peace of mind, more success in work etc.
But maybe these desires are inevitable? After all, humans are built to grow and evolve, which means it’s normal to have a gnawing sense of ‘what next’ and ‘what else’.
The secret is to find your perfect balance. I.e. To craft a life that feels full across all the things you care about [knowing there will always be space for more].
These are powerful times.
We live in a world of infinite possibilities and a finite amount of time. You can’t do everything, but you can do the things that get your time, energy, and resources.
Here are three powerful ways to create the work-life balance you desire for your life today…
Key #1. Remember what’s most important
Here’s a great quote from Dolly Parton. “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
At the end of your days, it’s unlikely you’ll wish you spent more time at your desk or in your inbox. Instead, you’ll wish you’d had more adventures, quality time with your loved ones, or time spent doing the things YOU love.
We have to keep this perspective front of mind - because it’s so easy to let our priorities shift when a deadline is looming, or a pile of to-dos remain unfinished or untouched.
It can be helpful to spend some time exploring and writing about what you desire.
What do you want?
Ask yourself this question and get some clarity on your answers. Journal. Go deep. Uncover the self-awareness that reveals what work-life balance looks like for you.
When you know what you want, it will be crystal clear what’s working and what isn’t. This knowledge gives you power - because you’ll see where your focus is needed.
Key #2. Plan for work-life balance
You’re right; this key is so obvious… but are we leveraging this key to its fullest potential?
As the saying goes, “what gets planned gets done”.
Time is your most precious, non-renewable resource. Each day, your time bank fills with 1,440 minutes. The question is, are you squandering that time, or are you allocating minutes intentionally across all the things that matter?
It’s hard to create a work-life balance if your relationships and hobbies have to make do with whatever’s left after you’ve finished your work.
This is why we need to create protected space in our schedule for ALL the things we care about.
Allocating time to tasks and activities helps us stay focused on what matters in the moment. Scheduling keeps us more time aware too - meaning we’re less likely to disappear into a social media abyss and come out feeling pressured and behind!
A good plan will show you how you can make space for it all.
Giving you more control, success, and fulfillment in your everyday life.
Key #3. Start creating work-life balance TODAY
Mañana, mañana! How many times have you promised yourself that?
It’s so easy to push things off until another time. Kicking the can down the road reduces pressure and creates some breathing space.
But that’s not all...
It’s easy to convince yourself that things will be different in the future. It’s easy to believe that your circumstances would have changed enough for work-life balance to be easier to find.
For example:
- When I have more money, I’ll be able to make more space
- When the kids start school, I’ll have more time to get healthy
- When I’ve got a promotion, I’ll have more control over my schedule
- When I’ve refitted office, I’ll be more productive
- Etc. etc. etc!
Heads up! Some tough love is coming...
These words aren’t promises to your future self. Instead, they are excuses that your present self can use to eliminate the need to do anything different today.
The reality is if you can’t reshape your schedule [or switch up your priorities] to focus on what really matters now, chances are you won’t be able to in the future either.
Especially because the future isn’t real anyway.
It’s just another moment of NOW.
In the words of Eckhart Tolle, “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
With that in mind, pull out your journal and get to writing…
What tweaks and shifts can you make - starting NOW - that will create the work-life balance you desire?
Remember, you don’t need to change everything overnight. Work-life balance can emerge as a transition as you get more aligned and clearer with what you want.
What’s more, your definition of work-life balance is a moving target that will change - because you will change as you move through your life.
The key is to do something now. As James Redfield said, where “attention goes, energy flows”. Set that intention for yourself, and things will change and transform as a result.
But don’t take my word for it.
Apply these three keys for yourself and see what magic emerges for you as a result.
You’ve got this.
