Work Life Balance and How to Get Some…

Work life balance?

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha….

Hee hee hee

Whew…

My Schedule, Simplified:

 (I say simplified because of course my child's activities are at different times on different days, but this gets you the idea):

6 a.m. – Get up
6:15 a.m. – Work out
7 a.m. - Get child out of bed, make breakfasts, make lunches, clean kitchen
7:45 – eat breakfast
8:00 – Martial arts with child
8:30 – Get breakfast
8:45 – Child goes to school, shave, shower
9:00 – Ghostwriting
1:00 – Lunch
1:30 – Writing
3:30 – Child comes home, snack, review schoolwork, piano practice, homework
4:30 - Make dinner
5:00 - Eat dinner
5:30 – Take child to activities
6:00 – Write while child does activities
8:00 – Go home, spend time with significant other
9:00 – Child goes to bed
10:00 – Brush teeth, stretching, meditation
11:00 – Lights out

My Reality

No plan ever survives contact with reality. See the schedule above?  Most days, if two thirds of it goes right, I’m a happy bunny.

Today, I could barely drag myself out of bed by 7:00, probably because last night I was doing a class at Rapier Wit and then we went out for milkshakes (because we are that cool). That meant I didn’t get to work out and won’t unless I decide to do it this evening, in which case I can either drop some writing time or some sleep. Neither is particularly appealing.

And if it’s a dark day (when my depression flares up) that two-thirds drops to one-third and if I’m lucky it’s the one third that pays my bills.

What’s My Point?

I don’t have one, I just wanted to whine.

Seriously?

Nah....
OK, maybe partially serious, but still…

Work Life Balance is What You Make It

I have a very full, very hectic schedule, and I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I don’t have a commute. I make a pretty good living doing what I love. I have a wonderful, lively, strong kid who has a lot of interests. I have a great relationship, and opportunities that others don’t have.

And sometimes I still feel out of whack. Like life is passing me by. Like I don’t ever, ever, EVER get to have fun.

And that’s when I realize I forgot to do some things, which I highly recommend to anyone who feels the same.

1. Plan Your Fun

Being spontaneous is great. But most times, if you’re an adult with kid(s) and a busy schedule, not planning your fun means you don’t have any. You glue yourself to the TV or the Internet and before you know it, the weekend is done and you did nothing.

Take some time each week to plan out your days off. Do it over dinner, if you can. It’s much better than spending the meal bitching about your day.

If you plan it, you are more likely to do it, which means you’ll be more likely to enjoy yourself on your time off.

2. Get more sleep

I try to sleep 7 hours a night (on the weekends, if I go to bed on time, I can get 8!).  Most times I sleep less sleep less.  That is bad.

When the schedule gets hectic, getting enough sleep is paramount because that’s what gives you the strength to go on, and gets you the energy you need so you can to the fun things you planned.

3. Accept that some time you just can’t…

Yep. Sometimes, things are not going to work out. Some days, everything goes wrong and all you can do is pull out your emergency straw and suck it up until the day is done.

The key thing with days like these is to reset at the end of them. Start tomorrow fresh (easier said than done, I know) and look at how you can plan the next day so it doesn’t get quite so bad.

Next Time: Keeping a clean house, writer style…