Achieving life balance

Today’s topic is one that is the subject of many articles, because it is central to finding fulfillment in life –achieving life balance.  I have a specific way of looking at this goal that I think a logical thinker would resonate with, and that is what I want to share with you in this talk.

First, we must begin with a clear definition of what balance means in this context.  Throughout the Logical Evolution Framework, we start with a definition when we discuss the major components.  This is a key to better results!  We can’t know what we are aiming for or if we are there yet if we are not sure what it looks like.

My definition of “life balance” is simple – it means that your life reflects your priorities.  This brings up two key pieces of information that you need in order to evaluate whether you are in that balance.  First, you must know what you think your priorities are.  Second, you must know what your life says your priorities are.  Only when those two are a match are you in “life balance.”

I am coming into this conversation assuming that you have thought about your priorities already.  If not, that’s the first step.  Ask yourself, “What do I consider the order of importance of things in life?”  This can definitely change dramatically depending on the phase of life that you are in.

In order to answer the second question, what your life says your priorities are, you must look at how you spend your resources.  Specifically, you must look at how you spend your MONEY and your TIME.  Wherever those go, those are your priorities.  For some of you, this could be a wakeup call!  You may imagine that you have one set of priorities but find that your resource expenditure tells another story.  Then you have the information you need to either acknowledge your real priorities or make an adjustment to how you spend your resources. 

The way to evaluate your life priorities is to tally the numbers!  Both time and money are “countable.”  For many, many years, I have used a budget spreadsheet.  For me, having a great place to live is important.  Beyond my daily needs of life like food and utilities, I value education and travel.  When I determine my spending plan at the beginning of the year, this is how I allocate my income.  Along the way, I track it and review it to ensure I am on track.  I don’t allocation as much to things like clothes, because that is not as important to me.

You can take a similar approach when it comes to time.  Create a log sheet for a two-week period – including days of the week and times of the day.  Throughout that period, note for each time what activity you are doing.  At the end of the two weeks, you will have a clear picture of where your time goes.  I structure my day using timeblocks.  I make sure that there is a portion of the day or week devoted to my highest priority activities.  I earmark the time in advance.  If these are not scheduled, they fall by the wayside partially because of lack of awareness.  There’s always another default activity ready to drop into the mix if I am not taking the lead in how I spend my time.  If you find the way you spend your time is skewed, you can identify time to divert from lower priorities to higher ones using this data you’ve gathered.

When I feel that the priorities I hold in my mind and heart are in sync with how I spend my time and money, my life feels balanced.  It follows logically that you will have more of the life you want if you allocate your resources more in alignment with those priorities.