How To Stay Balanced When Faced with Daily Stressors
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How To Balance Better
Having trouble crunching work, family, workouts, and everything else into your busy day? A recent study from Ernst & Young notes that a third of full-time employees say it’s gotten more difficult to manage a work-life balance in the past five years. To help, try these time-management tips from Laura Vanderkam, author of I Know How She Does It.
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Track Your day
A food journal can help you stay on top of your diet; a workout log can record what you’re doing at the gym. Now try logging your activities and office hours to help keep you accountable for your time, she says.
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Work A Split Shift
Instead of staying late at work, if possible leave a bit earlier to go for a quick run or to hit the gym before it gets crowded. Then spend the evening with your family and make up the work at night.
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Look Forward
Anticipating what might go wrong helps you handle the emergencies that can come up. Find a gym with child care so you can still work out if your sitter cancels. Block out your calendar at lunch and hit the gym for a midday workout on days when you’ve got a lot going on after work. Don’t schedule a training session on the night your spouse always gets stuck working late.
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Think 168 hours, Not 24
We often tend to think in a 24-hour mindset, or how much you can squeeze into any given day. Instead, consider the week as a whole. Daily rituals are nice, but you don’t have to exercise at the same time every day for it to count. Maybe you get up early one morning to train, go for a run at lunch another day, and hit the gym twice on weekends. It’s not the same time every day, but four times a week is a great goal to start with.
Having trouble crunching work, family, workouts, and everything else into your busy day? A recent study from Ernst & Young notes that a third of full-time employees say it’s gotten more difficult to manage a work-life balance in the past five years. To help, try these time-management tips from Laura Vanderkam, author of I Know How She Does It.
Track Your day
A food journal can help you stay on top of your diet; a workout log can record what you’re doing at the gym. Now try logging your activities and office hours to help keep you accountable for your time, she says.
Work A Split Shift
Instead of staying late at work, if possible leave a bit earlier to go for a quick run or to hit the gym before it gets crowded. Then spend the evening with your family and make up the work at night.
Look Forward
Anticipating what might go wrong helps you handle the emergencies that can come up. Find a gym with child care so you can still work out if your sitter cancels. Block out your calendar at lunch and hit the gym for a midday workout on days when you’ve got a lot going on after work. Don’t schedule a training session on the night your spouse always gets stuck working late.
Think 168 hours, Not 24
We often tend to think in a 24-hour mindset, or how much you can squeeze into any given day. Instead, consider the week as a whole. Daily rituals are nice, but you don’t have to exercise at the same time every day for it to count. Maybe you get up early one morning to train, go for a run at lunch another day, and hit the gym twice on weekends. It’s not the same time every day, but four times a week is a great goal to start with.
