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Living A Life in Balance

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR LIFE IS TOO COMPLICATED? Are you often torn between your work and home responsibilities?

If so, you’re not alone, and you don’t have to despair. You can gain peace of mind and relief by making a conscious effort to reduce the complexities in your life and achieve balance.

Given all you have to do, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s probably your ultimate goal: to enjoy your life as you follow through on your personal and professional responsibilities in satisfying ways.

Here are several suggestions for successfully balancing your time and life.

LEARN TO STREAMLINE

Speeding up and trying to force more and more into the same blocks of time isn’t the best way to get more time in your life. The best way to “get it all done” is to have fewer things to do by consciously streamlining your ongoing responsibilities.

It’s key to be selective about your choices and how you spend your time. And it’s vital to keep your perspective and establish realistic expectations for yourself.

Regaining balance starts with the awareness that something is out of kilter, that you have too much going on. From there you can identify what you want less of in your life.

ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS

You can achieve balance by setting priorities and building your life around them. This is a long-term process and requires thought and insight.

As a way to get started, take some time to list three to five answers to these questions:

• What emotional needs are important to me and why?
• What mental needs must be filled to make me content?
• What does success — both personal and professional — mean to me?

Your answers will provide information you can use to make changes in your life.

DETERMINE WHAT YOU WANT

Before making any big changes, consider the results you want to achieve. This will give you a starting point from which to choose a direction and set goals.

For example, you might want to:

• Enjoy work and have enough energy left at the end of the day to enjoy your home life
• Cultivate a better relationship with your children, partner, friends, and extended family
• Do more things you’d like to do and feel more content

By reacquainting yourself with your needs, desires, and feelings, you can make a plan with a systematic approach for achieving your goals.

RESPECT THE PROCESS

Achieving balance is an ongoing process that requires your regular attention. As you move forward, talk with others about how they have achieved balance in their lives and share your successes.

As you continue on the road to a more satisfying life, remember the following:

• Keep your job and your life in perspective. Success at the expense of relaxation and enjoyment is not success.
• Take yourself less seriously. Learn to see and appreciate the lighter side of life.
• Learn to say “no.” Be firm without apology or guilt.

It’s easier to balance a simpler life. For a life worth living, eliminate the unimportant things, whether they are relationships, tasks, responsibilities, possessions, or beliefs.