This is how I intend to exist as ‘That Girl’ – being able to balance my career and personal life (and the blog). It is so hard out here, you have to make sure you look after yourself and have a social life with other commitments. Yet then, you have a job, and you need to pay bills. Whether you are 18, 22 or 27, falling into adulthood after education is rough, especially when it comes to managing your time. So how do you start and then maintain the balance between work and your life?
Ways to split your time as an adult
There are plenty of sources that tell you, the “best way” to split your time. And it’s typically sold as a way of being “more productive” or “making the most of your time”. They can be quite helpful, as you can try them out for a month or two and see if any of them resonate with you.
Calendar blocking
This is where you use your calendar to manage your time, and block it out like a school timetable would. One thing I’m learning in adulting is, “if it’s not on the calendar – it’s not happening”. This is a great way to keep track of memories and plans. And using this method to set time to relax, or exercise can sometimes be useful to people. I tried it myself and it didn’t work for me, because I don’t have a universal calendar that I use all the time. But that’s me making that excuse, as I don’t look at any one calendar other than the one at work.
Using boundaries
Having boundaries set with yourself, can mean you get control on how you use your time. Having an appreciation for what you value/prioritise and being able to say “no”, can help you keep to your time. This is useful both in work and in general life.
Set routines (Habit stacking)
I have written a post about setting routines and sticking to them (right here). Creating a routine with tasks that repeat themselves within your time, can allow you to free up more time in your day to do other things. It’s best to make them small and simple changes, and those small pockets of time that you spend free, can make you feel in control of your time outside of work, and improve your perception on your work life balance.
There are lots of ways to try and manage your time, to establish a good work-life balance. The key is to have some flexibility and give yourself grace. Some weeks work might swamp you, or life or both. You don’t need to keep the perfect balance day in and day out. Your work life balance is a state of neutrality in your life. Think of it as a graph (hahaha chemist brain) the neutral points are where work and life balance in harmony, and either extreme is where there is chaos both in a positive or negative way.
It’s ok to change your timetable
Flexibility is very handy, when trying to establish a work life balance. I know in a previous post (about routines and establishing balance) I described how my routine had changed within a year. 2 years from that and my routine is very different from that too. I still have the core aspects, such as going to the gym and work, keeping a social life and managing the blog. But it is different from how I managed it before.
Having that flexibility in yourself to accept the change and adapt that timetable, can help you establish/handle the fluctuations of a work life balance. A good way to embrace the change, is to slowly make the changes. You can easily get overwhelmed by changing too much too quickly, plus change is scary.
For example, I started back at the gym and was going at 6am. That started to feel uncomfortable, so I moved leg day to the afternoon and keep everything else in the morning. Then I realised how much I hated the gym being so full. So, I started doing leg day in the morning on the weekend. Because of this, I had more time to choose between the week-days for the other days. Sometimes I don’t want to wake up, but still go to the gym so I will go in the afternoon and accept it will be fuller. Other times I am happy going in the morning. Each week varies, but my routine stays the same, I just shift where it takes place in my timetable. Having that flexibility and slowly changing it to adapt my energy levels, reduces that feeling of pressure which I can find de-motivating.
How do you know you are off balance?
Listen to your body. Now I’m not saying it’s easy, especially when living a hectic life, but your body will give you signs. However, you will only notice those signs, after you have taken the time to set up a balanced system. It can take months to get settled in a routine, so it will take months to understand the balance in your body.
For example, I have my night routine, the gym and walking. I can tell I am going off balance when I don’t keep up with them at any given time. My flat gets messier and I watch more tv when I get overwhelmed. I recognise it’s fine to be off balance, as that’s a normal part of adulting, but I do not have to stay in a state of imbalance. That is when I get myself back on balance.
How to get balanced in your body?
If you have the time in your life, where there are a couple of months that are “stable”, you can take the time to establish a grounding routine. This routine consists of small habits stacked together, in your week that help you relax, come back to reality and pull you away from the chaos of everyday adulting.
How you can do this, is make yourself aware of things you like, that bring you enjoyment, but do not overwhelm you. This can be a sport, an arts and crafts activity, socialising with a particular group of friends or being alone in a coffee shop, people watching. Then set times in the day when you can do those, if you have a job, then best to avoid your working hours. Being flexible with the placement of these times in your life, make it feel less of a “should do” task. The aim of this is something to unwind and has the flexibility to be done within your limits.
TL;DR Too long; Didn’t Read
- There are lots of ways to manage your time and have a work life balance. It’s worth trying out current methods and modifying them to work for you.
- Give yourself flexibility and grace when trying to manage your time. Life can give you curveballs and it’s ok to fall off
- The balance is the neutral points in life, there will be ups and downs along the way
- Be able to recognise you are falling off balance, and when you’re ready start working to counteract that and return to stability.
