When I first started my health coaching business, I honestly had no idea just how much I would need to hustle- especially when I first started out.
There never seemed to be an end to the things that I needed to do, and the whole living a life side of things edged so far out, that my work and life were just one big blurred mess.
As a Libra moon in my astrology natal chart, having peace and balance is very important to me. It turns out that having me in their life is also important to my friends and family (who haven’t always been so understanding of all the work I have needed to do!).
The thing I have come to learn is that balance itself is pretty much elusive, and that our state of balance is going to shift and change as we go through different stages of our days, weeks, months and years.
What I think is important is being able to recognise when we are trying to do too much, if that state is causing us to feel stressed and overwhelmed, and if it is, what we can do to shift things so they are less intense and easier to manage. Then we can be in more alignment, flow, and have more energy and freedom to do things on our terms.
I’ve created a quiz where you can find out what you work-life balance type is right now and I share some great tips for managing balance better depending on which type you are. Go take the quiz here!
For me, personally, when I have many different things going on, life is interesting and meaningful, and my work is important to me. But I also recognise that it’s necessary to make time to relax and enjoy myself separate from my identity as an entrepreneur, coach and business owner.
If you know that you need to make some changes, and to bring more balance between work and play, then here are some tips that you can follow:
1. Learn to be more patient
Your life might be more balanced that you realise, but it’s hard to see it if you’re impatient. A lack of patience makes every situation more challenging. A little patience makes many challenging situations manageable.
Impatience is one way you agitate yourself. You also make yourself less capable in the moment. I find that I can be very impatient when I am tired and overwhelmed. Queues will annoy me, and being stuck motionless in a traffic jam will make my blood boil. But when I can identify my impatience, then I know it’s time to take a deep breath and be present in the moment rather than wishing the time away. This is about creating balance in the present moment and being mindful in this way is very important for our overall well-being.
2. Simplify
It’s very easy in today’s world to buy more things than you need, and to take on more responsibilities than you can manage. Every extra item and responsibility in your life can create imbalance. Think of it this way. When we say that we are BUSY, what we are really saying is that we have put way too much on our plates than we are capable of actually doing! Eliminate the superfluous and bring more harmony into your life.
3. Make self-care a priority
When life gets hectic, our first response is to sacrifice ourselves for everyone and everything else. This is a mistake. Without good health, life becomes very unbalanced. We need to incorporate all of the 8 self-care pillars into our days and weeks as much as we can. Read more about the self-care pillars here!
If you don’t give your health the priority it deserves, your resulting bad health will eventually get your full attention. Usually this situation will result in burnout or adrenal fatigue and trust me, these conditions are not fun or easy to recover form. They will have a financial effect on your business, as well as affect you mentally when you can’t be working on your dreams and sharing your mission with the world as fully as you would like to be. Self-care needs to come first!
4. Create a schedule that includes downtime
Downtime isn’t just the time that’s left over after your responsibilities are completed. Downtime is something you do on purpose. Plan for it. Make time for it. Knowing you have a break scheduled in the near future will motivate you to spend your time more effectively. I like to make my magic hour an essential part of every day. I look forward to my evening wind down time to journal, do a meditation, put on a face mask and to really unplug at the end of the day. Even 10-15minutes of quiet time to deep breathe can help to bring you into a more balanced mindset when there is a lot going on.
5. Get started early
It’s challenging to start the day early, I get it. Remember that time is a valuable resource. It’s possible to increase your wealth or to receive more love, but we’re all limited to 24 hours. Once you fall behind, the entire day is out of balance.
That magical time in the morning when everyone else is still asleep can be great to enjoy. It might be hard at first to get out of bed early, but once it becomes a habit then you will find you can get started on your day in a lovely positive way with a purpose and the rest of the day’s tasks will fall into place.
6. Spend time on the activities that mean the most to you
Your family is likely a priority, but what else do you find meaningful? Hiking? Playing the guitar? Reading? Working isn’t the only priority in life. I have always been multi-passionate and the times when I feel out of balance are when I’m not pursuing those passions. I love to study astrology and learn about tarot and crystals for example, and if I don’t do this for a while, then things get out of whack. The more time you’re able to spend on enjoyable activities, the more you’ll enjoy your life.
7. Spend time on your relationships
This doesn’t just mean your romantic relationships. Make the effort to connect with your friends and extended family too. The more time you can spend with people who you care about then the more you can support one another and have meaningful connections in your life. This is key to feeling confident and content so that you can be an unstoppable woman.
8. Get enough sleep
Do you sleep less than seven hours each night? Even if you’re highly successful, you could be doing even better. Studies have shown that performance increases for many tasks, both physical and mental, when subjects receive at least seven hours of sleep. If you don’t have time for seven hours, it’s time to reexamine your priorities. Simple as that.
9. Make yourself your biggest priority
When you take good care of yourself, you can take better care of others. When you’re at your best, your performance at work is at its highest. It might seem selfish to prioritise your own needs and happiness, but everyone in your life will benefit from this mindset. Self-care for the win, always.
10. Accept there is no perfect balance
We can ironically stress ourselves out by striving to create the perfect, balanced schedule, when in reality, our state of balance changes and shifts depending on deadlines, our energy levels and what our particular goals and priorities are at any given time. Being open to redirecting our needs is the true to key to achieving balance. Balance is achieved over time, not each day.
Define what having a “balanced life” means to you. Balancing your life will be impossible until you clarify what balance means to you. How much time would you spend at work? How much time would you spend at home? How many leisure hours do you need each week? How would you spend those hours?
Take the Work-Life Balance Type Quiz to help you to understand your work-life balance type and to learn about where things could be in better balance and what areas you would like to give more of your attention to.
