The Balancing Act

I was asked to give a speech last night to the Washington County Rotaract club on "How to Balance Life, Work and Community Service." Interesting topic for me, I know, but I used myself as an example of what not to do. I came up with 7 tips to help live a balanced life and thought I would share them...feel free to feed back, I would find a discussion on my points interesting.

7 Tips for a Balanced Life

1. You are in charge of your own time

Many people try to pull you in different directions, but realize that it is up to you to go.

2. Learn to say “No”

It’s okay to say “no”

3. Set your priorities, there are 5 main focus areas in your life

Work/Career
Family/Social
Renewal (Physical, spiritual, emotional, leisure)
Community
Intellectual

4. Know your limits

Get to know yourself and what your capabilities are. Knowing your limits reinforces your ability to say no.

5. Know you cannot “do it all”

When you try to do it all, you generally fail at everything.

6. Health, Exercise and Sleep

Seems like a “no brainer” but often times when we lead an unbalanced life these three things take a back seat first and are generally in this order 1) Health - not eating properly; 2) Exercise - I can skip the gym “just this once”; 3) Sleep - I can stay up late and get this project done, the boss won’t mind if I’m a little groggy

7. Give yourself permission to relax

It is perfectly acceptable to have times in your life when you are not productive.