Work Life Balance is NOT Paved with Good Intentions

Have you ever told yourself that you wanted to get a ton of stuff done and then actually only crossed off one thing?

All the time.

I’m finding that good intentions actually get the best of me because I’m focused on doing ALL of EVERYTHING instead of a little of everything.

For example, say your plan is to get up early and go to the gym and then work all day, come home and cook, work on your blog, call a friend, then get in some relaxing time, too.

You just can’t do it all.

My advice: don’t get your panties in a bunch when you don’t fit in all of your to-do tasks each day. Even better, don’t put too many tasks in any one day. Take the small wins when you can. Don’t be mad you didn’t get up every morning to run this week, be happy you made it to Zumba on Sunday and field hockey on Monday. Don’t get frustrated that your blog post didn’t get out on time, crack a smile because you were finally able to catch up with an old friend with a phone conversation.

You are never going to be able to find this mythical “balance;” it doesn’t exist. And if it does exist, your life is probably pretty boring.

Take the chaos by the storm and do what you want to do when you want to do it. Sure, working out and eating right is important, but so is writing when the creative juices are flowing and having a drink with coworkers when you’ve had a long day.

 

Relaxation is truly helpful. Don’t beat yourself up for that Sunday you spend watching NCIS re-runs on your couch til 5pm even though you were supposed to blog and go grocery shopping. At least I didn’t.