How to Feel More Balanced in Your Life and Work

While creating a perfect work-life balance is probably a bit unrealistic, one thing is certain. We all need to feel like all of the different aspects of our lives are stable and functioning well in order to continue to move toward our goals and get through every day as sanely as possible.

Feeling balanced is about taking control of your immediate environment, especially in terms of how you view it. This control may not only reduce your stress level, but it can make you enjoy life at a whole new level. Once you reach that level, your reduced stress and increased happiness from having less stress can even make those around you happier. It’s contagious; your feeling of balance is good for everyone.

So, are you ready to get balanced? Here are some ways to start creating a feeling of balance in your life and work.

Set Boundaries

I’ve said it before and I’ll say again – you need boundaries, especially if you work from home. You should have boundaries around your working environment, your family, your clients and even your overall expectations. Without boundaries, you may find yourself in what feels like a free-for-all that leaves you overextended, overworked and over-stressed.

Your boundaries can be based on your physical environment, such as setting ground rules about what family members can and cannot do in your home office. Boundaries can also be mental guidelines, such as creating a policy that outlines your turnaround time and work hours for clients.

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Get Focused

In order to feel balanced, you need to be able to focus on where you’re going and how you intend to get there. This is where your goals, priorities and discipline come into play in a big way. When you’re focused, you can zero-in on the most important actions you need to take at any given time, and remove (or at least ignore) the common distractions that can blur your focus.

Your focus can be on your work, your goals, your priorities and even downtime.

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Be Flexible

Unfortunately for some (like me), there’s no room for perfection when it comes to work-life balance. You need to let go of your desire to do it all, immediately and perfectly. The hard truth is that something usually has to give.

Sometimes this flexibility can mean cutting yourself a break, delegating and just learning how to go with the flow. It’s a hard mindset for some, but once you get there, you will certainly be on your way to feeling more balanced.

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Do you feel like you have some sort of work-life balance? How did you get there?

Image credit: jan-willem