When people hear the word balance, they often think of a scale. So when it comes to work-life balance, they might think their goal should be to make both sides equal. I suggest you think of work-life balance more in terms of a balanced budget. This means setting goals for how much time you want to spend at work and in your personal life, even if those number aren't equal, and then live within that budget. This also means avoiding time debt.
Most people overspend time. They spend a few minutes too long at work. They try to do too many things at once in their personal life. And this leads to time debt, meaning you're always paying interest and playing catch up, which leads to stress, mistakes, and lost time. Start by accepting what I call the truth of time. It's a simple truth, but many fight it, and it destroys their balance. The truth of time is there are only 24 hours in a day, there are only 60 minutes in an hour, and there's only one you, and no matter what you do, you can't change that. To begin living this truth and see the balance of your time, use one calendar to keep track of your time.
Some people have multiple calendars and some have no calendar at all. But using just one helps you see the balance of how much time you're spending. Once you see the truth of time in your calendar, make underspending time your goal. Leave minutes and hours to spare, at least 10 minutes out of every hour. This breathing room is the first step toward finding a healthy rhythm between work and life. It helps you relax and leaves room to respond to unexpected in interruptions.
Ask yourself how much time do I want to spend at work and how much time for my personal life and how much time for sleep? Begin a starting daily balance of eight, eight, and eight. Eight hours for work, personal and sleep each, then adjust that budget to whatever makes sense for you. The numbers you create become the starting point for your balanced time budget.
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