Work life balance can exist. Work life blend is the new norm that comforts because all the boxes aren’t checked with our limited 24 hours a day and we still keep our healthy ways in check.
This article is all about optimizing your busy seasons for your work life balance benefit.
There are definitely seasons when you’re soooo busy and don’t think as clearly as when you’re well rested. It’s hard to be in the moment when you’re on go-go-go mode. Each moment goes by fast and awareness is missed. Focus is instead on task at hand.
And that’s how my life was when I worked in hospitality event planning, and especially holiday seasons when I started work at 9 am and ended around midnight. Co-workers would ask me why I was sending emails at 4 am! And then to start the schedule all over again the next day.
…For a season that’s sustainable, but not year-round.
You probably can relate with some of your endless cycle roles whether it’s as a corporate worker, doing a side hustle, or running a household. That’s all work.
Working 15 hour days means 9 hours is left for sleep and meals. Self-care part of life can end up as a nice-to-have. So can sleep that should be a non-negotiable. But sometimes is a luxury too!
And having little work-life blend becomes depleted energy that affects balance in feeling-thinking moods.
That lifestyle is not sustainable for a healthy or happy lifestyle. And can lead to stress and burnout. But again, okay for living out a season or two as part of life.
…And so is taking an intentional break.
When you’re no longer in a busy season and have rested up, you can find that you have too much free time on your hands. You have more Life than work-life blend, but that life isn’t healthy sustainable either for long periods.
It’s not good to just pass time without purpose that is known to shorten life span.
Time is a balancing act. But it doesn’t need to be a juggle where balls fall and that feels defeating.
You can ease in gracefully and look forward to the changing seasons…
Like, a simple change in work status, family status, or kids growing up can instantly stir up the season in busy or slow down.
But most of us in prime years are in busy seasons or busy from choices we’ve made.
And in the busy work shuffle, juggling free time around family, friends, or fitness can get pushed out (instead of doing push ups). Something has to give in work-life blend (formerly work life balance).
So here are 3 pieces of advice I have for (transforming) better work-life blend.
1.One good way is to END THE BUSY jam-packed schedule.
Simply stop adding one more activity on the agenda. Pause the activity habit stacking. So often, we’ve finished one activity, and the next question is: what’s next?
That doesn’t have to be your automatic way and what may give you the idea that having work-life balance is non-existent… somehow this has become the modern way, giving life balance a bad wrap (because slow down is a dream way off in the distant future)! And thinking all we can do today is work-life blend when we’re missing what’s important to us: our priorities.
In America, we’re in an instant gratification culture, where we’ve also delayed our health and happiness to retirement. That’s a bit backwards. Especially if you ask cultures that have less or choose to live slower paced throughout their lives.
But you can choose what you want. You make your life what it is based on each choice.
Even in your busiest seasons, you can prioritize what you want to achieve, such as spending an hour a day in family activity, meeting for lunch with friends, and spending an hour doing home exercise saving travel time.
Take that same 3-4 hours that instead can easily be spent mindlessly watching television (where the average is 4 hours per day for Americans). That’s to make up for all the busy, depleted energy spent during the day.
Being a night couch potato is the relaxing fix to get some exhausted energy back from the busy cycle we’re on instead of pacing ourselves.
It’s not a healthy, sustainable way to live. And doesn’t guarantee that we’ll be happier today or tomorrow.
So, if you’re on a mission to find more time and balance, one way is taking inventory of the busy that’s not making you happy in your life, and then change up doing those activities that can be as simple as a grinding halt stop.
2. Instead of taking free time to grumble on why we’re not as happy as we can be, we just decide to change up our lives.
…If work is what’s taking up the bulk of your time, then figuring out how you can make a change within 3 months is going to be your best bet.
You don’t want one season to turn into the next.
If the load is too much, reach out for help. Find ways to free up your time so you’re not mired down with the busy and can carve out free time, and also free up headspace time so you can enjoy this moment and be in the moment.
Some ways: delegate at work, ask spouses and loved ones for help, and set expectations.
Often, we add burden on our lives when we could’ve more simply repositioned how we answered or responded differently, so the responsibility isn’t solely ours.
3. Knowing your priorities FIRST, gives you better outcomes. You don’t end up saying yes to everything. You have a direction.
Because every activity you say “yes” to creates your busy life and lack of work-life blend. And if you want time balance back, be mindful and keep track of how often you say “yes” and “no.” Many ideas sound good at the time said or you don’t want to disappoint others, but then you’re compromising and not living your best life you’re called to live.
**And your ways become your habits.**
Finally, if you want good change, be ready to let go.
When you stop clinging to ideas, control, and how things will turn out, something amazing and good things happens. You give yourself the chance to get free from negative emotions about specific situations. And when you let in good energy, that attracts abundance beyond what you or I could’ve come up with.
Have a healthy and balanced week! 🧡