Work-Life Balance is something I see a lot of women in business that I work with, whether they’re in a corporate setting or building their dream business.
What does work-life balance mean for you?
I wish I could tell you but this is completely individual, just like success.
I can’t tell you what success means because it’s different for everyone.
No matter whether you love your career or you hate it, it’s important to find wellness and fulfillment in your life.
What is Wellness & Career Health
Wellness is a state of being; an active process of making choices towards a happy, healthy and fulfilling life.
On average, we work 90,000+ hours of our lives, so yes, what you do for work, for your career, for your business… it matters to your overall wellness.
If you’re not careful, your work can consume your time and energy, and become all-encompassing – don’t be a workaholic.
I’m a recovering workaholic so I can say that.
I came from a corporate background in wealth management and I did not have work-life balance. Even when I started my dream business and I did not have work life balance.
When I started to put myself first and work with a coach, everything changed.
You may not need a coach right now, but you definitely need YOU because YOU are the key to making it happen, to making the life you say you want a reality.
So what?
When I was taking my MBA and CPA, this was a question that was asked a lot – So what?
Have you been saying you need a change for a while, and you just haven’t been able to make it happen.
We are our own worst enemy because when we get into bad habits, when we fall into ruts, we get stuck.
Life is hard and when you have bad habits or your not clear on your vision and values, it’s even harder.
We actually have to retrain our brain to get back on track.
We have to ask ourselves some pretty deep questions that sometimes we’re afraid to face, or simply just don’t have the motivation because we’ve turned to the comfortable way of doing things – comfort food, comfort excuses – i.e. not taking ownership! Not taking response – ability.
So, if this is resonating with you, I want to give you a very simple technique that I teach my clients about time management because our biggest excuses are time and money.
The Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand Technique
You may have heard of this story before – I don’t know where it originated, but it is said to have been first taught by a professor.
The professor had on his table a big glass jar, some rocks, some pebbles and some sand.
He filled the jar with rocks, and asked the class if the jar was full – the class said yes.
Then he added pebbles to the jar, and asked the class again if the jar was full – the class said yes
Then he added the sand and made sure it got into all the crevices, and he asked the class again – is the jar full – the class said yes.
So why am I telling you this story and what does it have to do with how to maximize your time for better work-life balance?
The moral is this:
The ROCKS are your feel good things, the most important projects and things you have going on, such as maintaining your health and overall well-being and spending time with your family.
In other words, if the pebbles and the sand were lost, the jar would still be full and your life would still have meaning.
The PEBBLES represent the things in your life that matter. They are things that give your life meaning like your job, house, hobbies and friendships, but they are not critical for you to have a meaningful life.
These things often come and go, and are not permanent or essential to your overall well-being.
The SAND represents the other stuff in your life, and material possessions. These are things like watching Netflix, scrolling through social media, running errands.
The things that don’t mean much to your life as a whole and are likely only done to waste time or get small tasks accomplished.
What’s in your jar right now?
If you keep putting the sand into the jar first, you will have no room for rocks or pebbles.
This holds true with the things you let into your life.
If you spend all of your time on the small and insignificant things, it will cost you time and money.
If you want more work-life balance, pay attention to the ‘rocks’ because they are critical to your long term well-being and success.
- Build a career that is personally rewarding
- Pay close attention to your health
- Spend time with your family
- Build a solid relationship with your spouse or significant other
- Exercise – move your body
- Keep in touch with relatives or friends that live far away
How do you maximize your time for better work life balance?
- Make a list of all of your life buckets
- Write down the activities you do under each one
- Label them as rocks, pebbles or sand
- On a piece of paper, list out all the rocks in order of importance, all the pebbles in order of importance and all the sand in order of importance
- Keep this list in your agenda and constantly refer back to it
Self care and your feel good activities better be going into your planner first – I usually plan on Sundays.
You don’t have to do Sundays, but I would suggest that you have one day that you set in stone as a planning day – refer back to this list and as you go down the list, start scheduling them in.
Next Steps…
If you’re struggling with work-life balance, join my free group or apply for a strategy session with me to see how I can help you.
If you did get value from this, like, comment and share as I always love hearing from you and sharing the love with people that need to hear this.
Lots of love, Natalia
PS Catch the replay of this Wellness for Wealth TV Episode HERE – don’t forget to subscribe if you got value.
