Living a healthy lifestyle is about more than simply changing your diet or getting more exercise. Your emotional health is equally important and keeping a good spiritual balance means learning how to manage your career and personal life. For many, finding the right balance can become problematic, so here are a few tips to help you better manage your lifestyle.
Lists Are Your Friend
Every day should start with a to-do list and each item should be arranged by priority. Place the high priority items at the top of the list and the least important items last. This will keep you from failing to accomplish more vital tasks.
Maintain Your Health
Eating well, something that seems to be impossible for some of us, getting enough water and veggies is one aspect. Another is keeping junk out. An occasional cocktail or hot fudge sundae isn’t a problem. The problem becomes when that glass of wine becomes that bottle of wine or the pain pills you got when you got your teeth pulled get overdone. At that point, you may need the help of an outpatient substance abuse treatment program, which is ok. In fact, it’s a good thing for you, your family and your friends when you are you again.
Leave Work at Work
The digital revolution, accompanied by mobile technology, has helped us become more connected. This can actually be a hindrance to living a balanced life because it means you’re never unreachable. When your workday is over, be sure your co-workers, bosses, subordinates, clients, and other business associates know you’re off the clock and, whenever possible, stop checking messages in your business email accounts. Being reachable 24-hours a day will raise your stress levels considerably and expose you to illness.
Schedule Your Alone Time
If you’re having trouble finding time to exercise or meditate, make an appointment with yourself. By physically marking it down on your calendar each day, you’ll be less likely to skip it or schedule other priorities in its place. Physical activity is vital to a healthy body, but it also can help you reduce some of that stress and re-energize your mind. Meditating for just 15 minutes a day can also help you regain balance and restore your energy levels.
Look for New Hobbies
Maybe you like watching your kids play team sports or like to go camping on the weekends. If there isn’t already something you enjoy doing with others, look for other hobbies that will introduce you to new people. The idea here is to find something you enjoy doing that will let you socialize with people outside of your job. Take cooking lessons, go fishing, or find something else you enjoy doing and invest your time into it.
Get Up an Hour Earlier
If you’re still having trouble implementing this separation of work and play, try starting your day sooner. By getting up an hour or two earlier, you will have more time to get your work done without letting your career interfere with your personal life. Most people are more efficient in the mornings, so adding the extra time at the start of your day may help you to get even more done throughout your workday. By quitting time, you’ll be ready to leave it all behind for the evening.
Make Better Use of Technology
Answering honestly, how much of each day is spent doing mundane and unproductive tasks? Probably a good bulk of the day, if you’re like most people. By making use of technology, such as accounting software and other useful apps, you can automate many of these tasks and free up a good portion of your day. Cloud computing is now making it possible to store those apps and make your saved data accessible from any device. As well as helping you work more efficiently, using technology the smart way can even free your time.
As we live more hectic lives and find that there’s so much more we want to do, it becomes increasingly more difficult to maintain a good work/personal life balance. It will take conscious planning, but, if you commit to making it work, you’ll find that you feel happier and more content with your life. Achieving the right balance can even help you stay healthier, because you’ll be less stressed and will have a lower risk of developing some medical conditions.
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