Finding Your Balance

Balance.

There’s a lot of talk about the concept on the radio, on TV and in magazines.

But the concept is often misunderstood to mean that we should devote equal time to all of our responsibilities – including activities involving work, family and school.

Yet, trying to devote our time equally between different activities is far from wise. Instead of agonizing over splitting our time and energy equally, we should focus, instead, on determining our priorities and then making sure that our time commitments align with those priorities.

For example, most of us would say that our families are our top priority. And yet, how frequently does our daily or weekly calendar support this? If we say our families are important to us, then we should be spending time with them.

The same is true of school. In our work, we meet many high school and college students who say that their educational pursuits are a top priority. And yet, their schedules tell a very different story. If school is truly a priority, shouldn’t a great deal of time be spent preparing for class, studying for exams and completing projects? If this is not the case, we are not being honest with ourselves about our true priorities.

When considering our priorities, it also is important to think about where we are in life.

There are seasons when we may find that work needs to be our top priority, including, perhaps, when we are first establishing ourselves in a new field. At other times, school may be a top priority. If we are interested in finding a life partner, we may find that socializing needs to be a higher priority than it might be during another season.

Balance, as this article indicates, is more about understanding what is important to us and what we need and then making sure that our schedules align. When we understand and act on this understanding, we are sure to feel more in balance.