At times, life has its way of taking a serious toll on you. With everything that sits on your schedule each day, being stressed out and overwhelmed can easily become the norm. When that happens, finding a way to balance becomes an added stressor and quite possibly the last thing you find success with. Frustration sets in, sending you down a dark rabbit hole of guilt, depression and anxiety.
Though everyone's life is different, I truly believe that there are certain steps that you can take to help find a better balance. One of the worst feelings is waking up daily searching for something that cannot be grasped because of lack of focus. However, I've learned that though it may take a little trial and error to discover the perfect balance for your life, once you do, it'll be hard to lose. All it takes is enough frustration and a little dedication to decide that something needs to change.
If you're ready for that adjustment, check out these five tips to help better balance your life.
1. Make A To-Do List: Whether it's the night before or right when you start your day, making both daily and weekly to-do lists will help you take control of your life. Though it may not sound like a big deal, having a checklist can help you carve out what's important for the day and what can wait.
2. Set Timers To Complete Your Tasks: While having to-do lists come in handy, trying to multitask your list or dedicating too much time on one particular task defeats the purpose of creating it. Set timers for the tasks that you've listed to help stay focused on completing them. You'll be surprised how much you can accomplish by adding this little tip into your routine.
3. Take A Break Away From What You're Doing: Even with setting timers, there will be moments where you still feel overwhelmed with the amount of work on your list. Instead of having tasks that run back to back, try taking a 10 minute break before moving on to the next thing on your list. Doing this gives you time to clear your mind from what you were focusing on and prepare it for what's to come.
4. Don't Just Jump Into Work When You First Wake Up. Find Your Peace: This is super important. Having a long list of things to do can force you to feel like it's necessary to utilize every hour of your day. However, taking time first thing in the morning to center yourself, get in a peaceful place, and assess where you are mentally and emotionally, should take precedence. It's hard to take care of tasks if you haven't even taken care of self first. In those moments, you'll be able to find what you need to stay peaceful throughout the day.
5. Understand That Life Isn't Perfect And Neither Are You: It's really easy to fall into high stress mode and embrace the feeling of being overwhelmed. However, this usually occurs when you're looking to make something perfect. Whether that's an assignment, a relationship, or your job, perfection doesn't exist. Instead of searching for society's approval, discover and nurture what works best for you.
So, tell me: how do you balance during those tough days in life?
Until next time, friends!
Creatively (and Underwhelmingly) Yours,
-Kp