In our world of today, balancing work and personal life can be quite tasking. Especially in this period where time moves so fast like a blur and before you know it, it's the end of the day and the start of another hectic one. And if you're not careful enough, it becomes a cycle of repeated stress filled with work work work!. Not a single time for oneself.
I understand the need for us to work, earn money and put food on the table for those of us that are breadwinners. But what really is the essence of working and earning all that money if we can't create time for our personal life, to find good relationships, make friends, and spend time with family and loved ones. Who then, are we to share all that money with?
Sometimes it is not even about companionship. A good quality rest can improve the quality of our life. Being busy doesn't always mean you're productive. I’ve seen what stress can do to someone and I personally will not advise anyone to go down that road. You become constantly tired, you feel so drained, emotionally lonely as you let work distance you from family and friends. You become irritable and grumpy. And soon, it feels like you're racing against time. You do so much in very little time but don't see maximum results and you wonder why? The stress has begun to affect your productivity. Then you begin to diminish physically. You work, get paid, eat healthy but you're looking so pale and tired everyday it's beginning to make a difference in your appearance and you wonder where all the food you're eating is going. Stress my dear, it takes them all away.
There is no joy in that kind of life. Luckily for me, over the years, I’ve managed to balance my work and personal life, creating time for both to coexist. The first thing I started with was creating boundaries. I set working hours limits, time for rest, family time and so on. I created a to-do list, or something like a schedule that helped me plan my day effectively. This enabled me to create time for my personal life beneath all the endless work.
This schedule helped me manage my time more importantly, prioritize high quality tasks, improved my performance skills and gave some sort of clarity. Clarity in the sense that I knew what I was supposed to be doing at each time of the day. Time was allocated for work, for lunch, to take a break, to meet up with my friends, to pick up the kids from school, to spend time with family, and the likes.
And over the years I’ve realized, balancing work and personal life not only makes you more productive but also more fulfilled. It isn't about perfection, but flexibility, and harmony.
