Do you find yourself looking to achieve “balance” in your schedule, but it feels like trying to find a unicorn? It’s true, finding balance in our lives can seem unrealistic! But I’m here to tell you that achieving more balance in your schedule is possible!
You guessed it - in this episode, we’re talking about balance. Specifically, we’re talking about creating a routine for yourself to help you achieve a new level of balance.
Why do we search for balance if our lives are ever changing? Should we just accept the fact that balance might not happen for us? Absolutely not! We strive for balance, because balance goes hand in hand with peace. When we have a sense of stability in our schedules, we can start to experience true peace.
To be honest, no one is balancing everything perfectly. No one has a perfect week that never shifts, never changes, and never messes up. The reality is, you’re not going to have a routine that never changes. As wonderful as that sounds, it’s just not realistic!
There is actually one thing that we can count on to be constant in our lives. Change.
Change will always be present. There’s all kinds of unexpected things that can happen. You can probably look at your own life and quickly see that this is true. And it’s not only true of you, it’s true of everyone! Things in life are always changing, year by year, month by month, and day by day.
So, instead of creating unrealistic expectations for ourselves, such as the perfect balance, we can strive to find balance amid our ever changing circumstances.
Redefining Balance
In light of this, how can we redefine balance? Balance is peace as you move about your day.
For me, there’s a couple ways that I find peace.
Spend Time with God
I start by spending time with God. Every morning, it’s important for me to set aside time to spend specifically with God.
I do this by reading my Bible, journaling, and praying. The truth is, you can’t have peace without God. He Himself is peace! And if balance is peace, then we need Him first to help us handle all of the unexpected things that will happen.
Create a Schedule for Each Day
I need to know what I need to be doing, day in and day out. This means that I pull out my planner and my schedule, and I look at what I’m doing for the week.
I do this for both what’s going on in our home, and in my business. This helps me know what part of the day I have what “hat” on. For example, when I wake up in the morning, I have my “mom” hat on right away.
Then, when the kids go to daycare, that’s when I shift to my “me” hat. This is where I might work out, spend time with God, and do things on an individual level.
After that, I put my “work” hat on, and I get to work. In summary, I review my schedule for the week, so I know when to expect to be wearing each of my “hats” throughout the day.
Now, this is where you get to apply this to your own life. You get to define what your schedule looks like, and how you can specifically block it out in a way that fits your life.
How To Achieve Balance
Take Inventory
Start by taking inventory of what’s not working, and determine what might be off balance. Is it your schedule? Budget? Workload? Write these down!
Create a Personal Growth Plan
Next, create a personal growth plan by determining the things that you personally need to do every week to pour into who you’re becoming.
As an example, this is my personal “Great 8” of things I need to every week:
- Planning Time: Where I plan the week ahead.
- Journaling/Date Night: Once a week, my husband and I sit down to journal together and ask ourselves the same six questions. These questions help us continue to feel connected throughout the week.
- Move Daily: Where I determine how I’ll get in movement each day this week. What can this look like based on everything else on my schedule?
- Meal Prep: Where I plan our meals, decide what we’ll eat, and make a grocery list.
- Budgeting: A weekly check-in on our budget to keep me on track. To be candid, I don’t love this part! But a simple budget check-in helps me achieve the balance I want.
- Family Night: Based on our schedules that week, we pick one night to have dedicated family time at home.
- Time With God: How will I fill my spiritual cup this week?
- Work Block: How will I show up for the block of time I’ve set aside for work this week.
Make Your Block Schedule
Now, you get to draw out your weekly schedule in blocks.
When you block out your day, you can start to determine what block of the day you’re in, and you’ll know what “hat” you can expect to be wearing at what time.
A blocked schedule can help you avoid confusion as you move about your day. You can now focus on where you are, and you can avoid having any guilt about where you aren’t!
Time Blocks: for me, I work best within these five time blocks:
- Morning Routine
- AM Block
- Midday Block
- PM Block
- Night Routine
- It’s important to note that every day can look different, and what you put into each time block can look different, too!
- The point is, once you have your time blocks set in your week, you can then start to add in your fundamental needs.
Routines and Rhythms
Once you have your schedule written out, you can start to activate and create new routines and rhythms.
If you’re doing the same routine over and over, it’ll be easier than trying to figure it out every day, over and over again.
Also consider how you might be able to simplify your routines.
- Do you need a “drop zone” in your home for all the after school things your kids will come home with?
- Can you get your kids involved by having them help?
- What routines and rhythms can you add in this week to give you more peace?
Okay, so let’s say you’ve done these things. Now what? The big thing to consider - after you’ve blocked out your time and reprioritized a bit, are you leaving time for yourself to be able to work on your dream?
Disclaimer: you’re probably not going to get this perfect the first time you sit down to make a schedule - and that’s okay! Give yourself a trial and error period, and be sure to include a lot of grace. As you try things out and make tweaks, you’ll find more and more peace along the way.
Recap:
- Take inventory of what's not working.
- Create your schedule, and add in your fundamental needs first.
- Understand what your time blocks are and what “hat” you’re wearing when.
- Consider activating at least one new routine into your life to create more peace.
Want some good news? There’s a part two to this episode that you can stream right away! Listen to BUSINESS + LIFE BALANCE - How To Run a Biz Consistently as a WFHM. What I do to run Horacio Printing! Time Management Tips!
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