“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” – Thomas Merton
Finding a balance in life is one the biggest conundrums of modern living and the sheer volume of choices we have available to us can make it very challenging. It is important to remember that you can’t have everything and do everything at the same time.
Sometimes you may end up wanting to do everything, have everything and then complain and get stressed out by the fact that you just don’t seem to have enough time or energy.
Juggling all your priorities to include, work, home, family, friends and other personal interests and commitments can be a full time job in itself. An alarming amount of absenteeism in the workplace is now stress-related and it is clear that problems caused by stress have become a major concern to both employers and employees. Symptoms are manifested both physiologically and psychologically.
It is now more important than ever that people learn to manage their lives so that they create a better balance and reduce unnecessary stress which in turn will promote better long-term health and wellbeing.
There are many ways that you can balance your life better and here are three useful tips:
Thinking time is very important however, in the fast paced world in which you may find yourself living, sometimes you may not feel that you have time to do this. Do bear in mind that by factoring in this time it will provide you with an opportunity to slow down, take stock and amend your plans and behaviours. This can help you to become more efficient in the long term and work out where best to put your time and energy.
Setting yourself personal limits is a useful thing to do and can be applied to anything that you tend to do too much of. If you work ten to twelve hour days, for example, set a limit of eight hours per day, and stick to it. Learning to work smarter and managing your time better will help you to be realistic about what you can achieve in the timescale you have available. Accept that you are not superhuman and have a limit to your capacity to do things.
Whilst mobile technology can be very useful, it has one of the biggest impacts on our lives simply because it is so intrusive. If you are constantly at the beck and call of your digital gadgets then you will always be distracted and constantly interrupted. Social media can also be very time consuming so take a break and give yourself a digital detox every now and then.
In summary
Work and home life are equally important, and the key to happiness is about finding the right balance so you can get the best and the most out of both of them.
“I’ve learned that you can’t have everything and do everything at the same time” – Oprah Winfrey