Hey readers. Today, I’m excited to welcome Patty Moore, a Blogger at WorkingMotherLife.com. Patty mostly writes about her experience as a nurse and life as a single parent. Today, she shares with us 5 tips to maintain a work-life balance for busy, busy people!
Raise your hand if the last time you painted your fingernails was three weeks ago during that spare moment between waking up and doing morning chores before going to the grocery store. If you’re raising your hand right now, you should know that you’re not alone. It can be stressful to try to juggle a full time career, kids and a family, finances, and also try to make a little time for yourself somewhere so you don’t completely pull your hair out every night.
It may seem totally impossible to do everything you need to do, especially if you have kids, you can do it. Let’s look at some tips for maintaining a good work-life balance.
5 Tips to Maintain a Work-Life Balance for Busy, Busy People
Below are the 5 tips to maintain a work-life balance for busy, busy people like yourself!
1. Pencil in time for yourself.
This is the most important: that’s why I’m putting it first. You have to make time for yourself. You have to put your own life vest on before you start helping everyone else. And the best way to do that is to just schedule yourself in like everyone else. For example, from nine to nine thirty, it’s your time to take a nice bath and relax. Once it’s penciled into your schedule, you won’t feel guilty about taking that time for yourself because you’ve already balanced your self care with your career, finances, and family.
2. Make (and use) a planner.
I’m sure everyone says that, but if you’re a person that feels easily overwhelmed and like you can’t manage everything, you absolutely need to use a day planner. A planner allows you to organize everything going on in your life so you don’t forget things or feel like you’re forgetting things (even if you’re not). Some people do very well with a running list of items to get done, and other people do much better with a planner where you can map out every hour of the day. Regardless of the style of planner you like, a planner can be incredibly beneficial for keeping your life organized.
3. Pay your bills first and live below your means.
The best way to manage your money is to pay your bills first and track your spending so that you know where all your money is going. As soon as those bills come in on the first of the month, pay them off as soon as you can. You save on late fees when you pay your bills on time. Then, once your bills are paid, you know what you have left. When spending, think about every transaction. Just because know you can afford something, doesn’t mean you have to have it. Make and follow a strict budget. Using an budget and expense tracker can keep you accountable and realistic.
4. Rethink your errands.
If you’re going to the grocery store and spending an hour getting groceries and still forgetting half the stuff you need, you’re doing it the old fashioned way. Did you know you can get groceries delivered? Or curbside pick up? You can make your list, send it to your favorite grocery store, and then within a couple of hours you can pick up your groceries or even have them delivered right to you. For non-grocery related errands, there are courier services that will pick up and deliver all sorts of items if you’re in a pinch. Don’t waste your time running all over town when you can get a service to help.
5. Learn how to say “no” at work.
This is a hard one, but it’s true. You need to learn how to say “no” to things. To have a good work-life balance, you can’t let your work take over your life. This means you’re going to have to learn how to stand up and say no when the project is going to take too long or be too stressful. I know (as women), we want to do it all, but the sad reality is that it’s impossible to do it all. And at the end of the day, life comes before work. So when it comes down to that extra project that the boss handed you on Friday evening and needs on Monday morning, say “No” and enjoy your weekend!
Conclusion
Even if your life is crazy and you have a lot to do every day of every week, it’s possible to keep yourself and your family on track. You can manage to get everything done and even save a little money if you stay organized and focused on taking care of yourself as well as everyone in your family. Work/life balance is just what it sounds like, and maintaining a balance between your career, finances, and family isn’t hard if you put in place some good habits.
Check out Patty’s wonderful writing at WorkingMotherLife.com. Patty mostly writes about her experience as a nurse and life as a single parent. You won’t want to miss her latest articles!
