As we push on through Q1, many people may be struggling to find a balance between work and life. The work/life balance has been a struggle for everyone at one time or another and a large part of that is due to taking on too much responsibility at once.
As a person who works for herself, I’ve found that the line between work and life can become blurred. I’ll stay up for hours editing a YouTube video rather than cuddling up to my partner during a movie. Or I’ll work late into the afternoon and bypassing lunch and dinner just to feel accomplished.
There’s no reason you should sacrifice fun for productivity.
If you’re struggling to maintain a balance or you just want to prepare yourself for the future, keep reading.
Disclaimer: All of the views and opinions in this post are solely my own and are not sponsored. This post may include affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission through links at no cost to you.
Acknowledge you’re lacking balance
The first step in maintaining a work/life balance is acknowledging that there is a problem. Often, you’ll start to notice symptoms of ill-balance but may not be able to pinpoint the cause.
I’m going to lay out a few signs to look for to check yourself to see if your balance is off.
Unbalanced due to overwork:
- Feeling tired all the time
- Constantly angry or frustrated
- Dissatisfaction
- Imposter syndrome
- Feelings of loneliness
- Squabbles with family and friends
Unbalanced due to too much recreation:
- Feeling a lack of direction
- Feeling a lack of purpose
- Work is piling up
- Feeling bored
- Forgetting about key events and dates
- Lack of productivity
Unbalance due to both:
- Feelings of stress
- Feelings of anxiety or depression
- Feeling alone in your situation
These are key indicators that you are unbalanced in these two fields. And if you wonder how too much fun can be hindering, just understand that too much fun is just as bad as too much work. Both can lead you to feel unhappy with life.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to acknowledge that something is off and work to fix the issue.
Analyze areas of your life
Once you know that your life is unbalanced, you should begin to analyze the areas of your life which feel lacking.
Perhaps you’re overcompensating one activity in place of another. Or maybe you’re avoiding one area of life in fear of things going wrong (like avoiding family drama by working extended hours).
There are different areas of life to look at and I think it’s best separated into 10 categories. A quick way to decipher what areas of your life are thriving and which are weakest is to use the Level 10 Life model by Hal Elrod.
I have a video that covers the entirety of this topic if you want to learn more.
Essentially, life is divided into 10 areas:
- Family and friends
- Personal development
- Spirituality
- Finance
- Career
- Environment
- Giving and contributions
- Health and fitness
- Fun and recreation
- Romance
The goal of the Level 10 Life exercise is to take a deep dive into these areas of your life and assess which are doing well and which need more attention.
This is a great activity to do at the end of each quarter but honestly, I recommend everyone try it at least once at any time that works for them.
Below are some questions to help you analyze why you may be imbalanced.
Where are you putting in too much time?
The biggest indicator of how you may be unbalanced is by asking yourself where you are putting most of your time.
Do you find yourself working extended hours at your job? Are you too focused on earning money right now? Do you spend too much time going on vacations? Are you going on dates with your partner often? Are you giving yourself quality R&R time?
Figure out where your attention is mostly focused right now before taking the next steps.
What are you missing?
You can also ask yourself what you may be lacking in life. Often, when we feel imbalanced with work and life, we need to assume work is the culprit. However, more often than not, life is the true problem. We tend to focus on the wrong things in our everyday lives, leaving us dissatisfied and often hurting our work ethic.
Below are some things that we could be lacking that affect our ability to perform well in our career.
Family time
Spending too much time away from family can cause loneliness. This will prevent you from performing at your best during work.
Hobbies
Not putting enough time into hobbies and things that make you happy can cause you to feel as if life has no purpose. It can also lead to overwork, burnout, depression, and excessive stress.
Fun and travel
While too much fun is a problem, not enough fun is just as bad. It’s important to play in life.
What to do to maintain balance
Below are some of the ways you can change your routine to implement better balance between work and life.
Set aside specific times for work
If you work from home or even if you’re going to school, it’s important to set aside specific times for work. While I know this isn’t possible for everyone (I worked in retail for three years. There was never a solid schedule there), I think it is possible to implement this idea in other areas.
If you work from home, set aside specific office hours throughout the week when you will be working. Follow this schedule religiously. For example, say you work until 4pm every day. That means no matter what, you must stop working at 4pm. Any unfinished work will just have to roll over to the next day. It may seem frustrating at first, but I promise you, your free time is important.
If you go to school, set aside specific times to do homework. Whether that’s right when you get home, right after dinner, or at 8pm every night, make sure you maintain a routine schedule. This will train your brain on when to get in the zone and will allow you ample free time later. It will also prevent unnecessary stress.
Schedule routine date nights
In order to keep relationships healthy and strong, you’d be surprised how beneficial routine date nights can be. My boyfriend and I go out once every week and have a relatively fancy date night or visit a new location every two weeks. This has helped up keep up the spark in our relationship.
If you have a partner, try to schedule routine dates to keep the romance alive. Let your hair down and have some fun. Work can wait another day.
If you’re single, go on a date with yourself. You can go out to eat, go for coffee, hit the gym, or stay home with a nice movie and bubble bath. No matter what you do, just be sure to treat yourself.
And whether you’re single or not, it’s always a great idea to go on a date night once a month with your friends. Go hang out and have fun! Life is too short to work all the time.
Practice self-care
Just as I mentioned above, some date nights can be completely about self-care. If you’re struggling with the work/life balance, take some time out from your busy schedule to focus on yourself. Enjoy a massage or facial and really invest in your pampering. It’s a great stress-reliever and mood-lifter. You can thank me later!
Dedicate spaces with certain actions
I’ve mentioned this before in my habit forming video, as well as my New Years resolution post, but one way people become unbalanced is through the lack of dedicated spaces.
This is especially true for people who work from home or students who deal with homework.
Our brains associate places with activities. While you may think your brain associates your bed with sleep, you could be wrong. If you’re doing homework in your bed, then suddenly, the bed isn’t a place to sleep, it’s a place to study. So what happens when you want to sleep? All you can think about is school and studying. This, of course, leads to a lot of stress and anxiety.
Be careful about where you work. If you normally play board games in the living room, don’t bring work or homework to that space. If you do, you may find yourself constantly working and will fall into burnout.
Atomic Habits by James Clear also covers this idea. Watch my YouTube video about his book theories to learn more.
Form healthy habits
Lastly, a great way to maintain the work/life balance is through healthy habits. Create healthy habits for work and life that keep you balanced and satisfied. Focus on those ten areas of your life to see where you may be lacking and don’t hesitate to form new habits that help you reach your vision.
Keep a sense of separation between your work environment and fun environment and don’t be afraid to cut one short to enjoy the other!
Please Share!
If you like this post, check out some similar posts of mine below!
Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know how you maintain your work/life balance!
You can also email me with questions or concerns you may have at info.amelia.wilson@gmail.com
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Disclaimer: All of the views and opinions in this post are solely my own and are not sponsored. This post includes affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission through links at no cost to you.
Thanks again