Image found here.
Ah, this old chestnut. Life balance.
‘I feel overwhelmed.’
‘I feel scattered.’
‘I feel like I’m being stretched too thin.’
‘I can’t keep up.’
Today’s video is in response to a beautiful Such Different Reader, Lauren, who’s struggling with feeling scattered in her attempts to keep her life balanced. Ring a bell? (Wink!)
I have a few groovy pointers for you, so go ahead and PRESS PLAY.
I’d love to hear your response to these questions:
1. What areas of your life can you compartmentalise in order to create a sense of calm and clarity?
2. What are your 2 – 3 (maximum!) non-negotiables that you can use as references of ‘success’ and ‘balance’ throughout your day?
Remember, this about empowering yourself by understanding that Life serves YOU! You have the ability to craft a life by design, and that means that you can choose what you place your attention and focus upon, and when. You needn’t be everything to everyone all the time. Quality trumps quantity. Presence trumps pressure. :)
If you liked this post, please share it with your friends! I look forward to hearing from you in the comments.
Thank you so much Tara! I am going to give compartmentalizing a try. I’m doing it somewhat – scheduling clients 2 days a week – but think it would be so helpful for the rest of my week. Also really love the idea of an “education” time of week. My non-negotiables right now are meditation right in the morning, some form of movement (somedays a walk, others a run/yoga/class), and turning off my computer in the evening before bed to read/relax. Again, thanks a bunch! <3
I love this Tara! It is so important and something I need to do more of because like you said, we can’t be wonder woman. Having my own business makes you lose track of this a little bit I think, well for me any way, but the beauty of working for yourself is that you have more freedom to implement this. My task for today is to start compartmentalising! xx
Fab! I am going to hone in of compartmentalizing. I have been doing this with the days I am at my “day job”.
I love this idea of bringing your non negotiable into focus. “How do I want to feel today and what 2 or 3 things are going to make me feel that?”
Thanks Tars. xx
Great post Tara! I do this with my me-time as a Mum. Sometimes I struggle to say it out loud to people other than my hubby, because of that bloody Mothers guilt thing, but I do self centred Wednesdays. I’m a stay at home Mum, but on Wednesdays both of my kids do a day at daycare. They are almost 4 and 21 months. This day is when I recharge. My husband is at work, the kids are taken care of and I can concentrate on filling up my cup. After suffering PND, this is what has helped the most. It may seem like a luxury to some, but I forgo other things to have this time for myself. Your post has inspired me to do this in other areas of my life. Thanks for another great life tip! Xx
Hi Sophia – I love that you are taking this time for yourself! So many parents feel too guilty to do this, and this self love will mean you can love your family all the more.
Love this (and your jumper!)
As a mum, this is a biggie for me! Every fortnight my mum babysits my daughter for two nights so that i can catch up on work. So I slot in Pamper Time. this is times where i put on a face mask, hair treatment, do all my waxing and give myself a good all over exfoliation. By candlelight of course. All those things that I cant do when my limpet is in town.
We also have No Work Wednesdays where I am not allowed to do a single chore. That day is all about fun, exploring and cubbies. And then Family time Sundays where we all go to the local farmers markets for our weekly shopping. Its such a beautiful atmosphere down there and a tradition I really want Lucy to learn.
xxx
Tim Ferris can be quite polarising. He wrote ‘The Four Hour Work Week’, which I found to be excellent and one of those books where you should take what makes sense to you and fits in your life and leave the rest.
An absolute dynamite piece of advice from Tim and one I try to implement every day (working on it ;)). Is to make a choice: If you had the ability to only complete two things today, what would you do. Be harsh when deciding, pretend you have absolutely no choice in the matter. Two things.
Then trash the rest on the list (for now).
It’s a great way of working. You are forced to prioritise and you end up getting rid of a lot of junk! If it feels right to do more after those two things then you’re flying…
Another great post Tara. XX
Well, I am a big believer that things come to you when most needed and this is the perfect proof. I was sitting on my couch about to google house cleaners in an attempt to find more time but knowing this would only give me an hour a week and was not really the answer. Got distracted by a quick facebook look and your post was right there on my screen and I heard EVERYTHING you said! I took 7 minutes to watch your video and feel clearer, focused and ready to re-evaluate my priorities and time spent in certain areas.
Thankyou!
You really hit the nail on the head with this one. Thanks to Lauren for asking the question that we all were wondering about.
I have definitely been struggling with the “do everything be everything everyday” syndrome. Which always makes me feel like I didn’t do enough and that there’s never enough time. Even though I know better.
I really like your idea of self-centered Sundays. I’m going to implement that because I keep putting work to-dos on the calendar even though I know that I won’t do them. They hang over my head and make me feel bad. Again, I know better so it’s time for me to do better.
I would like to compartmentalize work, health, and family. My 2 non-negotiables during the work week are meditation/yoga and writing. It doesn’t matter how much or how long, but as long as I write something and hit the mat in some form I’m doing good.
Thanks for sharing the specifics of your week. I’m a details girl so that helps me a lot.
Kia Ora Tara
Wowsers, that was 7 minutes 13 seconds of perfection…in it’s timing and it’s message. Thank you!
I have been a scrambled mess for months (and months), still have spirited closed and uncharted on my desk and a wants/desires/goals/to do list that is creating guilt and disappointment on the daily! The old, “I have not had time” factor is getting old and this little gem of a video post provides a simple start point to begin to sort my world and invest in visioning, creating and actioning what I value deep down.
By the end of the week I will have got clear on my 1-3 non-negotiables, contributed to my new space to create (study space) and established some solid compartmentalisations of my own.
Chur to you Tara!
Shayne x
Thanks so much for sharing this – as a mum of 3 little kids, who just quit my ‘day job’ as I’m working to expand my personal business into a coaching business, this was a great insight – I look forward to setting up my new routine this year as I ease out of my current role. xx
Such an awesome video Tara! I’m gearing up to spend a few months in Bali while still coaching and blogging and I’ve been wondering how to best schedule my weeks! I will definitely be mapping out a blog day and coaching time slots plus time for moving and learning and days off! Scheduling time off is a biggie, I’ll be implementing that this week! Thanks for another amazing vid xxx
Thank you Tara, I love listening to how others find balance and take control of how their week flows. Looking at my week, I guess I do already compartmentalise to an extent, I try to group things together and dive into them with more focus over a longer period of time instead of jumping around working on everything at once. But I could certainly do this better and make my focus more fixed in my diary to ensure consistency and help me reach that new level of balance and move past that bit of overwhelm and anxiety that tends to creep up every now and then. Organisation and planning is key! Thanks again Tara x
Tara! You angel, as always your blog posts/videos are so timely.
I have been feeling the effects of struggling with the juggling and I love your idea of compartmentalising days of the week for different ‘tasks.’
P.S. You’re rockin’ that colour jumper and lippie x
Thank you Tara! It’s a breath of fresh air to see all these comments below to know I’m not the only one feeling like this.
I have really been struggling with keeping on top of uni work, seeing friends (barely at all) and having any me time.
I have a very detailed to do list and it hasn’t helped, I love this idea of taking only 2 or 3 things that I have to do and scrapping the rest. I’m going to compartmentalise from now on.
Thanks Tara. You’re a babe! X
You.Are.Gold. Tara.
THANK YOU!!! xo
Hi Tara,
I think, this is my favorite video ever (and I really love them all!). So often, I go home after work (I work a normal 9 to something office job) and feel like I haven’t really done or achieved anything, because I had to (well, I feel like I had to, in fact I chose to) jump from one task to another all-the-time!
Part of my job is in fact to immediately react to the requests of my colleagues, however there are quite a few tasks I can schedule as I like and I’ll try to structure my week a bit better from now on. This whole “Don’t try to do everything in one day” idea really seems to be a little piece of magic for me! I’m still musing about what it could mean for my free time….
Thank you for those perfect 7 minutes of inspiration!