Having a balanced life ensures good health – mentally, physically and emotionally. It also helps us lead happier lives and promotes growth as individuals. Here are 5 tips on how you can achieve balance:
Create a foundation
Don’t run before you can walk. When trying to strike a balance you have to cover the basics first: nutrition, exercise and sleep. These areas are the key pillars of life you need to address before finding a healthy balance in every other area. You need to feel you’re best both physically and mentally, so creating healthy habits and sticking to them is the first step.
This being said, there’s no need for perfection, simply strive to create an overall healthy lifestyle that works for you.
Recognize your priorities
Life can get busy from time to time. If you ever catch yourself feeling overwhelmed with everything you have on your plate, take a step back and re-emphasize what’s important to you.
By understanding what’s most important to you, be it your personal fitness, spending time with your loved ones or participating in different activities, you can begin to prioritize what you need to focus on and what you don’t.
Reduce stress
Speaking of prioritizing, part of this is learning to say ‘no.’ Ask yourself if you’re putting unnecessary expectations on yourself by committing to too many things. If you’re over worked and trying to balance your personal life as well as your other priorities, letting go and saying no to some of the smaller things can improve your mental state and stress level.
Know where to put your energy. By doing this, it should take some of the pressure off if you don’t get around to the rest.
Schedule downtime
When seeking to find balance try to leave some room for some much needed down time. Everyone needs a day where they can do something for themselves, have a night to relax or do something you love.
Many people struggle with the concept of relaxing because they are so busy. However, if you take the time to actually schedule it, whether that be in your phone, electronic calendar or planner you’ll be more likely to stick with it.
Do what works for you – even if it’s simply taking half an hour a day to read a book or watch your favourite show. Stepping away from work and other obligations will help you feel less stressed and more refreshed.
Meditate
Adding a meditation practice to your day can also help you achieve balance. Meditation has many benefits, including improved focus, productivity and stress level. A meditation practice doesn’t have to be time consuming either – simply start your day off with a 5 to 10 minute guided meditation which will help balance energy.