6 simple ways I have learned to stay productive and have work life balance
Years of imbalance led me to a severe case of burnout. Life balance looks different for everyone. Not only is balance not the same for everyone but balance isn’t even the same for one person over time. You get to decide what balance means to you during each season of your life. Not all areas of your life are going to need the same equal attention at every moment. Your focus will change over time.
For the past couple of years, I have invested a lot of time researching and honing my time management/ productivity skills in an effort to help balance my life. At one point I felt stretched too thin. I had so many to-do lists in my head that I would go over them in my mind at all hours of the night. I would try to split my focus on growing in my career while also giving equal parts of myself to my family, friends and simply time with me. I wanted to “have it all”. I didn’t want to sacrifice in one area so that another area could thrive. Having it all in my book meant I could split my focus between being a good manager and leader at my office. Having time to cook dinner for my kids and spend time with them. Being there for my girlfriends as they needed me and having that girl time that is just good for the soul! Time for myself to journal, continue to learn with online classes, workout and read. Now I am adding in time for blogging, and soon I want to couple that with vlogs and other types of videos. For me having it all means I have a healthy balance. Full disclosure my children are older and I have been at my company long enough that I can now take mornings for myself. With that being said, nothing has been handed to me. I have definitely paid my dues. I’m just in a season of life that allows for more flexibility! Below are some tips on how I maintain balance in my life.
Planning keeps me sane! Planning allows you to intentionally live your life. It reduces decision fatigue.
Plan your upcoming week on Sunday evening.
Take an hour to plan your upcoming week. Look over your calendar and list out events, meetings, deadlines and tasks. Schedule out your workouts. Schedule out family time. Schedule downtime. How much time you give your attention to certain areas is dependent on what season of life you are in. Are you at a stage at your life that you can take days off, or are you in a season that you are working 7 days a week on your passion project? Taking time to schedule out your week can be tedious but it sets you up for success.
Calendar Blocking
Now that you know what needs to be completed during the week, block out your calendar. It helps me to look at things as chunks of time on my calendar. Plan the results, not the action. I put time on my calendar that is dedicated to my work, personal goals and family time.
Time Batching
Time batching is Calendar Blockings’ sister! You batch similar tasks together. For example, hold meetings on only certain days of the week. Work on all accounting related work on another day of the week. Run your errands, dry cleaning, grocery shopping on Saturdays. Shoot content for my blog on Sundays.
Pomodoro technique
Let’s say I give myself an hour to get a task completed. To help me stay focused on the task at hand, I turn off all my notifications so that I am fully focused for 25 minutes at a time. I then take a 5 minute break. Once the 5 minutes is over, it’s back to another round of a focused 25 minutes. I use time cubes to track my time. I find that when I use this technique I am more focused and effective.
Delegate
You don’t have unlimited hours or energy or time throughout the day. When looking at your tasks that need to be completed ask yourself if it is something you have to do or can you ask someone else to complete the task for you. Figuring out who is the right person for the task and delegating accordingly is magical and took me years to realize it’s ok if it’s not me completing the task, as long as it’s getting done.
Start the day on your terms
I wake up early, like really early during the week. Most days I am up by 4. I intentionally start my days early so I can take my time doing things ; I love not feeling rushed. I refer to it as winning the morning. I find that if I wake up early, my days go better. My mornings are for me. I block out every morning on my calendar as me time. This allows me to focus on both my physical and mental health. I take the time to workout, read/learn, write morning pages, daily devotionals, meditate and pray.
