Balancing It All

This new year has bought new goals and new opportunities. The one thing that remains the same is the need to balance everything but look like you are doing it with ease. As a full-time employee, business owner, wife, full-time student and a dog mom life can get a bit crazy. In addition to still being a person who needs to take care of herself; and make myself some sort of priority without feeling guilty, there are some key lessons I have learned about balancing it all.

Schedule it! From working out, eating, date nights, completing business tasks and even ensuring that I am getting enough sleep, I place everything I need to do on my calendar. This has been a lifesaver for me. If it is not on my calendar, it doesn't exist (literally!)! This not only aids me with securing time to complete specific tasks, it also helps me not to overcommit and stress myself out on a daily basis. I stick to what is on my calendar and if something comes up, I will schedule it for a future date. Only in cases of emergencies or cancellations will I add something to my schedule once the day has started. It is my way of keeping myself organized and sane!

Create Me Time! Over the years, I have learned that I need to place time on my calendar to sit and be with myself. I usually put it on my schedule for Friday or Saturday night. I work, spend time with my family and then, when everyone else is sleeping, I stay up and do something that makes me happy. Whether its watch a new show my husband isn't interested in or even listening to music and dancing all night. I do whatever it is that makes me feel happy and helps me to release any negative energy from enduring the stress of day-to-day life.

Connect It! In order to remember all of the things that I have to do in a week, I have decided to connect all of my calendars. So, when I look at the calendar on my phone I can see everything. This also prevents me from over-booking or booking conflicting events. In the past, I would constantly book dentist and medical appointments that conflicted with work meetings, so I started connecting all of my email calendars to my phone to prevent this from occurring. This has made my life so much better and has extremely reduced conflicts and the need to reschedule.

As this year progresses, it is best to get organized now so that you can make time for yourself and can take care of your sanity. These little tips have helped me by making my life a lot less complicated. Also, it is important to keep in mind that we all have to preserve ourself. When you are balancing so much, please don't forget that you are one of your tasks that is really important. Never deplete yourself and remember to get your rest so that you can work hard the next day.

What can you do now, to make your daily life less complicated?

With love,

Val Barnett