It is now Libra season. Happy Birthday to all of you who fall under this astrological sign. This is not my sign, but I like it being represented by a scale. A scale is the use of amounts to compare or measure multiple items. In our life, there are so many things we are responsible for. Each takes up different amounts of our thoughts and our time. So, the question I ask first is, do you feel like your life is currently represented by a balanced or almost balanced scale?
Some of the things that take up our thoughts and time include work, family, friends, hobbies, and finances amongst others. Work takes up most of the time in a day for most people. The standard job is a 7–8-hours in a 24-hour period. This leaves only 16-17 hours to engage with all the other areas. Plus you still must sleep 6-8 hours of this time if you’re lucky. There are some days when I feel defeated and can’t get all that I set out to complete done, but I do pride myself on doing my best. The next question I ask is, how many things do you have to balance within a typical week?
For myself, I have a full-time job with travel time to and from. I do not have kids yet, but I do have a husband and other family that I spend time with. I have a new small business of handmade items. Reading is important to me, and I try to read a few pages each night. There are home responsibilities such as cleaning and cooking. I try to do yoga at least once per week. And, I have had this blog for the past year. These are not all the things I engage in, but these take up most of my time. This leads to the next question; how do you allow yourself to be fully present with the limited amount of time you have to spend on each area?
There’s no one way that is perfect and what works for me, may not work for you. But,…
- I keep my phone away from the area I am servicing the children I work with. The only way I can tend to my phone is when I’m on an official break. Out of sight, out of mind. If my phone was next to me, any sound or vibration would take my attention away from my work.
- The only way I engage in social media is to go into the app or on the website. I refuse to have notifications from them taking away too much of my time looking into other’s life and not focusing on my own.
- After work, both my husband and I take time to unwind from the workday with our personal hobbies, but we have a cut off time to be with each other.
- I slowed down my spending of my wants. For someone who likes shopping having a save for later list helps me feel like I’m shopping and gives me time to think and keep away from impulse buying.
- At family gatherings, my phone is usually in my purse or sitting on some countertop unless there is an important picture I remember to take. Having a conversation is not dead, human interaction is very important.
To end, the question now is how do you plan to maintain/create a balanced scale for your life in this fall season? There are a few months left in this year, it’s not too early to work on your personal scale.