The Fall Equinox: It’s All About Balance!
4 Ways to Better Balance Your Day-to-Day Life #Goals
Welcome to the season of spectacularly colorful foliage, pumpkin spiced lattes, and sweater weather. Because as of Saturday, it is officially fall.
But Saturday was more than just the official change of seasons. It was also a special day for balance, in which there are 12 hours of daylight, and 12 hours of night. For those of us not living next to the equator, that type of perfect symmetry only happens twice a year: once in late March at the onset of spring, and then again in late September at the start of fall.
So naturally, we’re thinking about balance and the role it plays in our work lives, not just twice a year, but every. single. day.
Balancing Life / Work
You hear it all the time, that fleeting equilibrium between what you do at your job and what you do at home. “Work-life balance.” But no matter how good you are at planning, every once in a while you’re going to feel overwhelmed in one area or the other. Perhaps both. Because stress always tends to compound, doesn’t it?
But don’t freak out. You will get through this.
How to achieve balance: Prioritize, then execute. You can’t do two things at once. No matter how much you try to multitask, it’s not a real thing. So don’t waste time thinking about what you’re NOT doing. Just focus on what you ARE doing in that moment. Get it done, then move on to the next thing.
And when you’ve gotten through the must-dos, take a break. A real break. Focus on the break. Be there. Play for a minute. Because that will give you the renewed energy you need to get back up and keep grinding. We all go through tough times, but I believe in you. YOU GOT THIS!
Balancing Fun / Seriousness
With all this talk about work, it’s easy to get carried away and design your life as if productivity is the only measure of success. But guess what. You’re a person. A dynamic, complex, real person. And you deserve to have fun. You need to have fun. Not just because you want to. Because having fun is genuinely good for you.
How to achieve balance: If you think things are too serious, call a time out. Schedule a fun activity for your team to help break the tension. And don’t be coy about it, either. Make it clear that your intention is to take the time to breathe. Being purposeful about it will make it easier for people to lighten up for just a moment.
And if you’re worried things aren’t serious enough, do the same thing. Call a time out and let your team know that you are worried things might not be serious enough. That there’s a place and time for fun, and a place and time to get serious. Again, being purposeful and clear will help set expectations and deliver success.
Balancing Alone Time / Team Time
Whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, you still need enough time alone and with people to be your best self. Being with your team allows you to get some fresh perspective, new ideas, and to feel connected to the people who are working toward the same goals you are. But sometimes, you need time alone — to get stuff done, to think through something complex, or to recharge your batteries.
How to achieve balance: Be mindful of how you’re feeling. If you’re an introvert who’s feeling drained, you probably need a little time to yourself. But if you’re an extrovert who needs a boost, you probably need to find a buddy and talk through the problem at-hand. So, it’s really all about balance. But what does that look and feel like? That’s up to you.
Balancing What You Want to Do / What You Have to Do
There’s always that one thing on your to-do list that you just can’t bring yourself to finish. You put it off to work on the new, exciting project you just got assigned. You push it off for days, weeks, wishing it would just go away.
For some, it’s really hard to motivate yourself to complete those amorphous, big picture projects. And for others, it’s the little annoying things that get pushed to the back burner. But look, sometimes you just have to suck it up and get it done. Because, once again, it’s all about balance.
How to achieve balance: OK, so you’ve accepted that you need to get the thing done. That’s step one. But step two is actually putting it on your schedule, and setting aside the time to make it happen. You can’t just wish it into completion. You’ve got to actually do it. So make yourself proud. Get after it!
What else do you balance every day? And how do you manage to keep it all in check? Let us know in the comments!
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