4 strategies for maintaining balance in your life

I will be the first to admit that living a perfectly balanced life is not something I do well (or ever? But then, does anyone?) But I don't like waking up in the morning stressed before I get out of bed because I'm doing too much of one thing and not enough of another ... and I really don't like not knowing how to fix it. Below I've included a few strategies that I try to use when I feel like I'm living an off-balance life - usually, running down the list of these helps me even everything out again!

1. Manage your input and output
 
One of the main things that causes me to feel stressed or unbalanced is if I'm spending too much time either absorbing energy through inward activities, like studying, or pouring energy into outward activities, like public speaking. (In the years when I did NaNoWriMo, my output would go through the charts because I was writing.all.the.time.) The best way to get back to feeling balanced is to take a break and choose something from the other category ... if you're writing all day, every day, take a break and scroll through Pinterest! Read a book! Listen to someone talk about their day! Do anything and everything you can to put more info into your brain so you can turn around and pour it all out again.
On the flip side, if you've spent the last week studying and reading textbooks and watching tv in the evening hours, your brain is probably overflowing! Go write a journal entry, or tell someone about what you're learning, or draw some gorgeous art - anything to siphon the extra stuff out of your head so you can keep right on learning.

2. Go visit a human person

Go walking, or drink hot chocolate in a new coffee shop, or take a drive to a nearby small town! Take an afternoon off and invest in your relationship with someone else - hear about their life, and vent a little bit about yours. This could be anyone - a family member, a friend - it doesn't have to be outside your comfort zone! I find that just spending a little time with people goes a long way to straightening out the things that feel "off" in my life.

3. Make a list of things you love and do one thing every day

 For me, writing hit the top of the list - a few months ago, I was working and sleeping and studying for exams, and that's it. I felt worn out, and like I was missing something key because I wasn't allowing myself to carve out time to write, or blog, or even journal. Don't do that to yourself. When you find out what you love, make time for it. Or, if you love a lot of things, make a list! Do a couple of them! Don't let the pressures of school or work crowd out the essence of who you really are and what you love to do.

4. Remind yourself to aim for excellence, not perfection

**This particular piece of advice is courtesy of my mum
Aiming for perfection is one of the fastest ways to throw my life out of balance -  I end up pushing and pushing and pushing for a goal that is not only out of reach, but unnecessary. Striving for the standard of excellence means expecting great things - hard things - but it also means that there is such a thing as enough. Occasionally, it's not such a bad thing to just stop. And be done. And let it be what it will be, and call it good enough. I'm not advocating for half-finished projects, or 50% effort ... just arguing against the mentality that we have to spend forever fighting for a standard that we're never going to reach. Don't get stuck there! There are so many other places to explore.


Okay, rant over. I fight hard for balance, mostly because I so often find myself without any!! What about you? Do you ever get get "stuck" aiming for perfection? Lost in a broken cycle of input/output? Caught not allowing yourself to do what you love? How do you get unstuck, break the cycle, and go back to embracing what you were made for? I'd love more tips!!

xx,
Olivia 

ps. why yes this is yet another post to be illustrated with pictures from Iceland!! Definitely because I love Iceland and not because I have no other pictures at the moment ... ahem.