A Balanced Life

Maintaining Balance

It is hard to believe that we are in the middle of January in the year 2010. The new year brought in new expectations, dreams and intentions.  We are now reaching the point in the new year when some start to revert back to old habits.  However, now more than every it is time to stay focused and keep our New Year intentions in the front of our mind.  Having a sense of balance in our lives can assist us in achieving our new intentions.  There are several things we can keep in mind to assist us in feeling balanced every day.  Try to remember to:  

• Be realistic with your time.  Don't over schedule yourself.  Allot a few more minutes to complete a task then you think it requires.  Avoid calendar congestion by writing your schedule on a calendar or keep it in your Smartphone.  Consult it before scheduling commitments.

• Prepare the night before.  To help you get back in the saddle, it's a good idea to get ready the night before.  This doesn't just mean picking our your clothes and packing the kids lunches.  It can also include looking at your calendar and to-do list for the next day.  Consider all your obligations; not just what you have going on in the office.  Taking a glance at you commitments can help put you in the right mindset for the morning.

• Carefully evaluate all of your commitments.  It's great to be the one who volunteers for an extra project at work or sign up to make 3 dozen cupcakes for your child's class party.  However, before you raise your hand it is important to make sure that it's the right time and the right commitment.  You don't have to be everything to everybody.

• All the planning the world can't prevent the unexpected from happening.  It is critical for you to be flexible.  Being able to adapt to the unexpected is crucial when planning for the days, weeks and months ahead.

Keeping these things in mind will allow you to design a life that is balanced.  Remember, maintaining a sense of work life balance is a daily LIFESTYLE not just a New Year's Resolution. You can keep your momentum going!

New Feature at A Balanced Life

A Balanced Life, LILAC is proud to announce it's new Suggested Product Page. This page is dedicated to provide you with possible resources to assist you in maintaining a sense of balance.  Check out new the Suggested Products Page for some potential tools that can help you design and live a life that is balanced.

Our first product listed is the Daysteps Lifestyle Planner. Check out our Suggested Product Page for details on this comprehensive calendar system.

Our intent is to provide women with multiple resources to help you juggle your many responsibilities.  We hope you enjoy and visit often.

Calendar Congestion

There are many time management experts that teach us the importance of scheduling ourselves and keeping some sort of calendar system.  Personally I agree that scheduling our appointments and daily tasks is a great idea.  Writing down our daily commitments is a great mechanism for making sure we keep track of everything we have to do.

I also believe that writing things down on our calendar allows us to examine if we are being unrealistic with our time.  Looking at our daily, monthly and yearly calendars can let us see if our calendars are congested.  Congested calendars are those calendars that have obligations and tasks penciled in from the time someone gets up until the time they go to bed.  A great visual clue is to look for white space on your calendar.  If we don't have any then chances are our calendar is congested.

There are several strategies that can be used to prevent or alleviate calendar congestion.  Some tips to consider when cleaning up are calendars are:

• Evaluate each and every appointment and commitment. Are our obligations in alignment with what is really important or is it filled with commitments that we feel pressured to accept?
• Do the commitments on our calendar reflect obligations from all aspects of our lives? Or are our obligations lopsided?
• Are we being unrealistic with the amount of time we are allotting for certain tasks or obligations?
• Are there areas where we can simplify and slow down?

Looking at our schedule on paper can be a visual reminder for us to decide if our calendar is congested or not.  Maintaining a congestion free calendar is a great tool for living a balanced life.

Define Your Integrity

As busy women, it is important for us to define who we truly are and where our life is headed.  Living a life of integrity and defining our integrity is the foundation for living a life that is balanced and fulfilled. It is important for us to ask ourselves Who Am I?

I like to define integrity as knowing WHO we are.  When I say WHO, I am speaking in regards to how WE define ourselves as women. WHO we are is not the same as WHAT people call us or WHAT we may do. These are what I consider to be roles we play or labels that are given to us.  For instance, our children call us mother; our spouse calls us wife; we may be a teacher.  These roles or labels may all be positive. However, they do not define WHO we truly are. When no one is around and we are by ourselves, WHO ARE WE?

Living a life of integrity allows us to answer that question.  It also allows us to define for ourselves WHO we are and What we are called to do in life.  Living a life full of integrity is not a destination.  It is a process.  Living our lives with integrity and aligning our daily actions with our calling is a journey.

How Does Balance Feel?

Often I have thought about what does living a living a balanced life look like.  From time to time I would change my definition of balance.  Primarily I believed that balance meant that I was able to divide my time equally between my job, family, household obligations, and my community  involvement.  However, it is my belief that I was off in my approach to living balanced.

Today I would define having balance is a feeling.  To experience balance is to use our intuition in establishing what it feels like and how it is exhibited in our lives.  Periodically we should examine the responsibilities and expectations of our life. After we truthfully examine our responsibilities, then we can start to design how to make things balanced for ourselves.

For example, we have the goal of wanting to renovate our kitchen. Before starting this project we should think about several things. For instance, school just started.  Our kids are trying to get back into the habit of doing homework and they have to stay after school several days a week for practice.  Let's also say that we have a tight deadline at work and there is the possibility that we may have to work a couple of Saturday mornings for overtime over the next 5 months.  And in addition, we have been asked to work with the Sunday school at church. 

Get off the Rollercoaster

Striving to live a balance life is something that I have to purposefully do each day.  I am what you would call a self diagnosed workaholic.  If left unchecked, I would have the tendency to work long hours and thoroughly enjoy it.  However, camping out in my office is contrary to living a balanced life.

To help me keep things balanced I get I take time off the roller- coaster. Periodically I take some time off from work to recharge my batteries.  There are times when I take a whole week and then there are times when I just take a long weekend. The length of time I take off depends on my overall schedule.  What is unique about this time is that I don't really have anything scheduled.  Just knowing that I don't have to stick to a rigid schedule feels amazing.

This time off does wonders in assisting me to maintain work life balance.  This time allows to get organized, focused and rested. I use this time to get to some tasks that I normally don't have time for in my daily schedule.  For instance, I am off of work this week. So far I have cleaned out my linen closet and cleaned my desk. This time has been productive around the house.  However, I have got in some much needed rest and I am relaxed and rejuvenated.

I understand that not everyone can take off a week at a time.  The length of time isn't important.  What is important is to make sure that every now and then we get off of the roller-coaster and rest.  Schedule a day to sleep in late or take a luxurious bubble bath.  As busy women was have to make it a priority to carve out some down time.  You deserve it.

One Step at a Time

Realizing that our lives need balance is actually the easy part of establishing a balanced lifestyle. The hard work begins when we start to put steps into place to actually achieve a life of balance.  One thing that is important for us to remember is that we shouldn't try to implement too many changes to our unbalanced lifestyles at once.  Instead focus on achieveing the personal goals  you developed for yourself in regards to balance. Practice ahieving these goals each day. 

It is so critical for us to be patient with ourselves when we are striving for a balanced lifestyle.  Come up with your balance plan and stick to it. There may be days when you don't feel as balanced as others.  However, don't let this discourage you.  Keep pressing forward.

Remember that balance may look and feel different at different times in your life.  There may be times when you are busier in office than others.  There also may be times when your personal life may be busier.  That's ok.  Make adjustments to your schedule as needed. 

Life is such a gift.  We were not intended to live a life that if frazzled, stressed and overwhelmed.  It is important that we live and manage our lives instead of our life managing us. Living a balanced life is a process and a journey.  Enjoy each and every step you take.

Start Organizing Yourself Today

As busy women we fulfill many different roles and responsibilities each day.  Our daily schedules can be jammed pack from the time we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night. Because we sometimes rush, we may not have the time to put back the shoe boxes we pulled out of the closet when searching for our favorite sandals. There are also instances when things in our physical space may be cluttered because we have not stopped long enough to decide where things should go. Identifying a specific place for everything and putting things in their place assists in creating a sense of balance in our lives. 

At times this is easier said then done.  But having a designated place for our beauty products, purses, unopened mail, and keys can ease the sense of being overwhelmed.  The same is true at work.  If our physical space is cluttered, it can make us feel cluttered internally.  This is contrary to living a balanced life.

You don't have to designate a place for everything all at once.  Make a list of the areas in your life that need to organizing.  From this list, pick one area to focus on.  Work your way through this space until you have a designated place for everything.  For instance, you might decide that you want to start in your bedroom.  Start by making sure all of your visible surfaces (i.e. dressers, nightstands) are clear from clutter.  Then make you way to the areas that are not visible such as your closet and dresser drawers. 

Develop Your Plan

When you first start thinking about living a life of balance it can seem overwhelming.  Sometimes you just don't know where to begin.  However, it's important to realize that there isn't any one particular place you should be begin.  The important thing is that you develop a realistic plan to become balanced and do something each day that will boost your life balance.

One of the first things you can do is to define the areas in your life that need balance.  Write down the major areas of your life that need to addressed on a separate piece of paper. Your headings for your major areas to balance may look something like the following:

• Family & Friends
• Things around your house or pertaining to your managing your household
• Finances
• Career
• Health
• Spiritual and community obligations

List all of the obligations or tasks associated with each of these major areas of your life. Don't ponder too hard while doing this exercise.  You just want to write down everything that initially comes to mind. Make sure to list those things under each area that you have been avoiding doing.

The next step is to prioritize your list under each major heading and compile them into a balance plan.  This balance plan is going to consist of a goal or two from each major areas. I actually suggest taking "baby steps" and include one task from each area that need balancing.  From your initial lists you can develop balance plans for the week or month.  Establishing small obtainable goals will boost your confidence in your ability to actually live a balanced life.

Skipping Out on Fitness

Making time for physical activity is one of my weaknesses. When I have extremely busy periods in my life, physical activity seems to be one of the first things that I cut out of my schedule.  However, this approach is not healthy at all.

I cut out my workouts when busy because I don't really like working out. But living a balanced life is not about balancing those aspects in life that I like. Having a balanced life means that I also embrace those positive aspects in my life that don't come naturally to me.

One big mistake that I would make was to schedule my workouts in the morning.  I am the first to admit that I am not a morning person. So when the alarm clock would go off I would resent my a.m. workouts. If I skipped them then I would feel guilty. I simply had to acknowledge that working out in the morning doesn't work for me.  So instead of working out at 5:30 a.m. I now work out at 5:30 p.m. If scheduling my workout in the afternoon increases the chances that I will work out then I'm successful.

Exercising on a regular basis is essential to good health. Our bodies need exercise just like it needs food and water.  But keep in mind that as with balance, physical activity is a very individual thing.  As I say often, one size fits all doesn't cut it. The important thing is that we all do some sort of exercising based on our physical capabilities.  For some this is walking and for others it may be training for a marathon. The important thing to do is just move.