I wrote a blog a while ago about having it all and balancing it all, and wow what a lot has changed since then! We are in one of the strangest periods of our lifetimes and so I wanted to revisit some of the points on that post and take a view on how to balance right now, with everything that is happening in the world, with the flurry of news coming at us from every angle, with the kids at home, with partners on the phone on the other side of the dining table and much more to contend with!
Balancing it all; you can’t have it all right now; but that’s ok!
Set out objectives
You can still do this, but, and I speak from experience, set those expectations low, whereas before it might have been setting out objectives like get to the gym, do the school run, find time to read a book for an hour, those objectives and priorities now have changed beyond belief, so they might now involve caring for, entertaining or homeschooling the kids, focusing more on your mental health or getting outside (within guidelines) a bit more often than you used to. Priorities have changed and so too will your objectives.
Work Smarter (differently)
I don’t want to make a sweeping generalisation here but if you are a parent, you have less time now, if you have a child or children who were at nursery or school well you’re about six hours short everyday and that is tough to accommodate. If you don’t have kids you still need to work differently to help yourself cope with a day which doesn’t involve going to the office or for a coffee or maybe any face to face contact at all. So everyone needs to find a way to work differently, to structure the day in a new way which suits your new needs.
Accept things won’t be perfect
In general accepting this is a great step towards achieving balance, it’s even more important right now before things are far from perfect, we are in an extreme situation, personal and professional relationships are tested and under pressure and we are all dealing with something we have never dealt with before and are at different stages of how we deal with that. This is where returning to those objectives is key, in trying times we often find ourselves with moments of absolute clarity and things which felt like a priority before just won’t feel so important now, as such now is a good time to remember not to put additional pressure on yourself to achieve things which are unrealistic.
Take Time To Reflect
So important right now! It can be tough to feel you’re achieving anything when the world is so different right now, but the reality is you’re probably doing way more than you ever did before and handling a whole host of new feelings and emotions along the way. At the end of each week, take a minute to think about what you’ve achieved that week. Remind yourself of the positives, did the kids get dressed some days this week? Brilliant! Did you get some work done? Amazing! And one final point: ignore social media! You do not need to come out of lockdown with kids fluent in a new language, a six-pack and a new haircut (that you did yourself) real life is not like that.
# Balancing it all