Whether in school, working a corporate job, or taking on the role as a stay-at-home parent, finding a work-life balance can be a challenge. If you look hard enough (and sometimes not hard at all), there is always something to be done. It can feel like a never ending to do list that is constantly growing, and the pressure from work and other responsibilities can lead to minimizing personal needs.
What is a Work-Life Balance?
A work-life balance evaluates the way that you use your time and energy to meet your personal, professional, and social goals to build a more fulfilling life. It is a balance and constant use of flexibility to evaluate what your needs are and how they can be met wherever you are in life. The benefits of working towards a work-life balance is that it can impact multiple areas of a person’s life: self-esteem, relationships with others, family dynamic, quality of work, physical and mental health. In comparison, these are also things that can be impacted when we feel a noticeable imbalance.
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Juggling Rubber Balls and Glass Balls
When starting to think about work-life balance, I learned from a professor about author Nora Roberts' analogy of juggling rubber and glass balls. Depending on the roles we have in our life within our relationships and community, they each bring on different responsibilities and priorities.
You are going to have multiple different balls to juggle at times. Some of those responsibilities are going to be glass. If you drop the ball, it may crack or break causing a need for nurturing or repair. Other responsibilities are rubber, if you drop it, it may feel uncomfortable, but it will bounce and you can pick it right back up when you are ready.
It's all about prioritization
We are going to drop things from time to time and that’s okay. It’s just about learning how to evaluate what we can drop. The point in juggling is finding a balance between the things that need to be prioritized and what you would like to prioritize. When thinking about this analogy: What roles do you carry in your life? What do you personally value that you would like to do more of? What things in your life are glass and what are rubber? Who are the people in your life who can offer support in what you are juggling?
How to achieve a work-life balance
Achieving a work-life balance is not about perfection but the flexibility to find a balance that can create a more fulfilling life. It’s about learning what we can drop, what to pick up, and how to find the endurance and motivation to continue juggling. It is a process that can take time and look different in different seasons of life. Therapy can be a tool to help readjust and evaluate your work-life balance and the expectations that we hold for ourselves. It is a safe space to learn how to set healthy boundaries to avoid overcommitment, recognize and communicate needs, create a self-care routine that nurtures personal values, and navigate modern day stressors.