34. Maintain A Healthy Work/Life Balance.

Take care of yourself at home and at work. The healthier you are, the more you’ll thrive personally and professionally. Balance your time between work, family life, community activities, physical fitness, and emotional/spiritual development.

Marc's Message:

Work / Life Balance can be difficult to accomplish.  Think about the demands of raising a family, building a career, nurturing children, taking care of elderly parents or other family members, along with activities and hobbies people enjoy today.  Don’t we often feel there isn’t much spare time available?  I would guess most people would say “yes”.  But that’s exactly why it’s so important to create time to take care of yourself so you can unwind, relax, rejuvenate, and create the energy that’s needed for both work and personal time.

I read recently that instead of Work / Life “Balance”, the new term we will start hearing more often is Work / Life “Integration”.  With our 24/7 society, and the technology that is at our fingertips and pulling / pushing us toward increased communication, we need to figure out how to best integrate our role at work and home with the finite time we all have each day.

When people have too many demands on them, on the surface things can look like everything is under control, but below the surface, it may not be.  Picture ducks on a peaceful lake.  They may look calm, but under the surface they are paddling like crazy to move to where they want to go.  So, if we want to have better Work / Life Balance / Integration, how do we accomplish that goal?  One option is to look at people that manage their time wisely and learn the tricks of the trade (processes, systems, philosophies, and attitudes) from them.

As we look at others at work and around our communities, one group of individuals that I believe stand out among all that have done a great job with this delicate balancing act are Moms, and especially Single Moms.  They are the unsung heroes in our families that keep it all together.  They are up early, and before they retire for the night, they have so many responsibilities and are often pulled in many different directions, yet somehow they have the endurance day after day, month after month, year after year, to pull it all together. And in their selfless way, they provide what so many others want, often neglecting their own needs.

So, if the tasks that you have to complete seem overwhelming, first, let’s keep it all in perspective.  Focus on the most important responsibilities you have that must be accomplished.  And imagine the support we can give one another, so we can all be more efficient and in turn use that extra time most wisely.

Time is one of those things we wish we had more of, so let’s make the most of it each day as we balance the needs of work and life!