Work-life balance in real life: Part 2 My work-life balance model

As far as the “perfect” work-life balance, I think that’s individual and that it changes season-to-season, week-to-week, and even day-to-day sometimes.

Work-life balance (WLB) can be a fluid and abstract concept and to some people, it may even seem unachievable. I write about that in Part 1 of this blog post, which you can find here.

Today I want to dig a bit deeper into how I developed a personal WLB model for myself and how you can make your own.

How I model WLB for myself

In writing Part 1 of this post, I had an idea of how I would model my WLB, but I wanted to actually put it into practice. To me, it made sense to use a pie chart. I figured that I have 100% energy or 100% of my time to give, so it makes sense to me that whatever energy or time I pour into the different categories of my life can only add up to 100%; no more. Basically, I can’t be giving 100% to my work and 100% to my “life.”

I also can’t be giving 50% to my work, 50% to my relationships, and 20% to my health and wellness, as much as I’d like to think I can. It just doesn’t add up.

I’m a visual learner, so a pie chart allows me to physically see where I’m putting my time, what the balance of my time is, and how I might need to adjust. So that’s just what I did.

First, I thought about the things that I am devoting my time and energy to in this season of life. For me this looked like:

• Work Projects
• Professional Education
• Creative Projects
• Friends & Family
• Long-distance Relationship
• Routines and Habits
• Fitness
• Rest and Recovery
• Meal Prep

Looking at this list, I was able to form 4 categories.

• Health & Wellness
• Relationships
• Work
• My “One Thing” (I subscribe to the belief that if you really want to improve and grow at something, you have to commit to that thing and minimize other distractions. I’m still working on this and trying to “un-learn” society’s praise of multi-tasking, but I’ve defined my “one thing” as my creativity; specifically, this blog.)

From here, I estimated how much of my time and energy I would ideally devote to these four things.

But then I decided to take it a step further and look at how I was actually spending my time each week. Here was my thought process:

1. Every person has 168 hours in a week.
2. If you get the recommended 8 hours of sleep per night, you sleep 56 hours per week. (I realize that not everyone is able to do this. Right now I don’t have kids or a job that requires crazy hours, so I actually have been able to do this in my life.)
3. 168 – 56 = 112
4. So I have 112 hours in each week that I do stuff with.
5. On average, I know I spend about an hour on each meal between cooking, eating, and cleaning. (=21 hours per week)
6. On average, I know I spend about an hour and a half each day working out or driving to and from workouts. (=10 hours per week)
7. On average, I know I spend about 1 hour each day on my morning routine and 1 hour each night on my evening routine. (=14 hours per week)
8. On average, I know I work a 40 hour workweek, of which I spend some time on work projects and some time on advancing my professional education. (=40 hours per week)
9. I continued this method through all of my sub-categories and then charted it.

Curious how this compared with my initial guess, I combined it back into the 4 overarching categories.

It was interesting for me to see where I’m actually spending the majority of my time as opposed to where I believe my priorities are. It shows me that I could be devoting more time to my relationships and creativity. I do believe that putting more time into these things would help me feel more balance and fulfillment. The tricky part is that time doesn’t just come out of nowhere. We’re all still limited to 24 hours each day, so if I want to spend more time doing one thing, I need to spend less doing another. That’s why I think this model is perfect for representing balance in real-life.

Other things that might be part of your WLB Model:

• Time to unplug – this could mean walking, being in nature, spending time away from electronics, yoga, meditation, a mindfulness practice, or other grounding habits
• Create space – this could mean self-care, breathing exercises, taking time for a hobby, sitting on the couch and doing nothing, or anything else that allows you to take a break and turn off your brain for a minute
• Family time – this could be a family dinner each night, family game night once a week
• Date night – a reserved time each week where you go out and do something fun
• Volunteering – for some people, this is a big part of their lives. I wish I could say I did more volunteering, but my reality in this season just doesn’t include as much of that as I’d like.

I think we often talk about WLB simplistically without digging into what it looks like in real life. As tough as it is to build your model of what it looks like in your life, it can be even harder to maintain. Here are some tips to prioritize WLB in your life and stick to the balance you need to be your best.

Sticking to your personal WLB model

• Make time for the things you care about. When you develop your personal WLB model, be sure to put categories on it that are important to you. Your model could (and probably will) look entirely different from mine. Everyone has their own sense of balance. When you apply your model in real life, make sure that you’re blocking out time each week to focus on the things you want to prioritize. It’s easy to have a clear idea of the way we want to live our lives and then actually live them entirely differently. Make sure that your planner reflects how you said you want to be spending your time to achieve balance in your life.
• Set and protect your boundaries. In real life, there will always be things that pull you in different directions. You have to make decisions around what you define your priorities as and what it takes to stay balanced. When you have clear boundaries and priorities, it is much easier to make tough decisions when they come up. They say that you can’t be two places at once. That’s true and evident physically, but it’s also important mentally. When you make a decision to be in one place over another, be fully present in that place and not thinking about or regretting the thing you didn’t choose.
• Remember that sometimes done is better than perfect. As a perfectionist, this one is something I have to consistently remind myself. It’s easy for me to obsess over a project and spend more time than necessary on it. I have to remind myself that I only have 24 hours each day, and I’d rather make the most of that time in a balanced way than over-obsess over something that’s taking away time from other things I want to focus on.
• Set the example for others. Whether your work defines you as a leader, you define yourself as an influencer, you serve as a mentor, or you have people that look up to you, I believe we are all leaders in our own ways. Many people struggle with work-life balance because of a culture that prioritizes the hustle. Simple things like taking lunch breaks, getting to know your coworkers and what they like to do outside work, and having a boundary of how late you stay at work each day can make an impact on the people around you. If you’re in a leadership position, it can give them the unspoken permission they need to create better WLB in their own lives.
• Adjust and redefine. As much as WLB is personal, it is also fluid. What your priorities are and where you spend your time can (and probably will) change from season to season, week to week, and even day to day. As life changes, you have to adjust what your sense of balance is but still make sure that it fills you up and keeps you energized. At the end of the day, what is going to take to go to bed fulfilled and wake up energized?

I hope this post helps you build your own model for your work-life balance and stick to it too. Below is a list of resources for further reading and listening on the topic of work-life balance.

References and Additional Resources

• The ONE Thing with Geoff Woods Podcast: “Aligning Your Values with How You Invest Your Time | Warren Rustand”
• https://www.the1thing.com/blog/the-one-thing/work-life-balance/
• https://hbr.org/2021/01/work-life-balance-is-a-cycle-not-an-achievement
• https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210302-why-work-life-balance-is-not-an-achievement
• https://www.mhanational.org/work-life-balance
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahlee/2014/10/20/6-tips-for-better-work-life-balance/?sh=7535425729ff

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Cheers!

Sarah