May 16, 2022

By Lasheila Stancil, MA

While the role of being a mother, wife, professional, and a rising entrepreneur is extremely rewarding, these titles can also be very demanding! Not to mention, I love to volunteer and serve in my community and church. As I pursue these roles, a “tipping scale” is what I visualize. That is how I can best describe it. When these positive stressors and high level of demands are placed on my time, energy, and internal resources, it causes an imbalance in my life. Sometimes, I can feel the emotional and physical reactions to this imbalance. The feelings of being extremely anxious, stressed, and overwhelmed. The feeling of being proud and unproductive at the same time, yet I cannot help but do more!

Then I ask myself: Is the quest for work-life balance achievable or even possible? I am learning that work-life balance is not a static goal, it is a flexible and changeable goal. As my values, priorities, and goals are changing, my ability to become more flexible does too. This is a high priority in order to effectively manage my stressors and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

If you too find yourself struggling with achieving the same goal, here are some helpful tips that I hope you will find valuable.

1. Start assessing areas that you need to be more flexible in and can make needed changes. 

YOU CAN CHANGE WHAT YOU CONTROL!

2. Prioritize your demands by importance aligning these with your values and goals.

AIM WITH PURPOSE!

3. Minimize or eliminate unnecessary obligations or demands of less importance.

IT’S OKAY TO SAY NO!

4. If possible, delegate and share some of your demands.

MANY ARE WILLING TO HELP!

5. Balance your time and energy doing meaningful and enjoyable activities for You.

YOU WILL FEEL BETTER AND MORE BALANCED!

6. Implement small changes at a time.

CONSISTENCY NOT PERFECTION!

In closing, I would like to share one of my favorite quotes with you, written by Reinhold Niebur- “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”

You may read more in-depth details about the provided tips at the following link: https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-achieve-better-work-life-balance-3145026