Once things in your life aren’t balanced, you could actually start undoing whatever success you may have achieved. Even if things are going well, there’s always another level of balance and proficiency in managing your life. Here are five strategies to help you achieve balance:
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Decide why you need more balance and what it means to you. Why exactly do you want more balance in life? What exactly would that mean to you – can you describe in detail what it would be like and feel like? If you are unclear in these areas, it’s impossible to achieve more balance. Define what balance means to you and block and protect time in your life so you can achieve it. It’s not impossible. If you feel it is, then you have no chance. No goal, no growth, no balance.
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Remove Distractions. Most people aren’t “out of balance,” they’re in Television, internet and social networks which take away hours of their time, and adds to hours per week and years of life wasted. So, get rid of those things that aren’t adding real value, depth or joy to your life. Free the time that you spend on distractions and what you get in return is time for opportunities, joy and balance. Getting back just one hour per day – which is easy – can change your life forever.
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Say NO. Be real and stop saying yes to everything. Every yes tacks on time to your life’s agenda, always taking away from something else. If you lose hours of your life pleasing people or responding to people’s false emergencies, then your life quickly falls out of balance. Imagine that all your yeses to others are like handing out hours to people that you can never get back. Learn to say no and do not apologize for it. Tell people that you already have plans, priorities and responsibilities that were long ago planned, and that suddenly saying yes to their every request would be irresponsible to others.
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Hit your mark. There is something called Bleed Time—the amount of time that piles up because you went over on allocated time. When you say you’re going to spend an hour on the phone with someone, but you spend 75 minutes—there’s 15 minutes of bleed time. The more often you go too long on your meetings, promises or conversations, the more you lose time. Set a time and stick to it. That’s integrity and discipline, and that’s how to get your life back.
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Improve your health. If you want more balance in your life, then invest in your well-being. Sleep well and meditate so you can be more focused, efficient and effective during the day. If you feel more physically energized each day, you’ll have more power to stay focused, say no, and manage your time.
Try all these things and experience a renewed sense of vitality and zest in your life.
