Work Life Balance
Is there such a thing as “work-life balance” for a work-from-home mom? I’ve searched and searched for the perfect formula to perfectly balance my work life with personal/home life. I’ve come to realize that there is no such thing. I can’t exactly “leave work at work”, because I work from home! Sometimes, it feels like I’m working 24/7.
Several years ago, I used to work with a life coach who gave me the following advice. Your life consists of 8 main areas:
- Work/Career
- Family and Friends
- Spirituality
- Health and Fitness
- Finances
- Living environment
- Recreation and hobbies
- Personal development
My life coach asked me to rate all these areas on a scale of 1 – 10. For the ones that I rated 7 or less, she had me to write down 3 goals to improve that area. Then for those three goals, three action steps to take to achieve each goal. For each of the goals set, make sure that they are SMART:
- Specific (“I want to lose weight” is not specific enough)
- Measurable (How many pounds do you want to lose?)
- Achievable (I can’t lose 30 pounds in 1 week, maybe 1 pound a week is achievable)
- Relevant (Does this goal make sense in my life right now?)
- Time-based (How long do I want to take to reach this goal?)
Here’s a real-life example of one of my goals I’d like to share: “I want to run (and complete) a 5K run by the end of September.”
A couple of months ago, I was going through this list and had rated “Health and Fitness” VERY low on the scale. Healthy, yes, but fit? No. I needed to do something about it. I thought about it for a few days and decided that I wanted to start running. I was told that running is one of the best ways to get and stay fit. Confession: I hated running.
I needed something to keep me motivated, so I signed up for a 5K run, downloaded a training app on my smartphone, and started running. I’m proud to report that I’m well on track to complete this goal! It so turns out…I LOVE running now! I guess it also helps that I live in Track Town USA (Eugene, OR)! Here’s a picture that I took on a recent run. Check out the view!
I don’t think I’ll ever get to a point where every single area would be a 10 all at the same time, but this list gives me a good roadmap as to where I’m at, where I want to go, and how to get there.