Balancing your commitments…

We read more and more about maintaining a healthy work / life balance and the impact of not doing so. Now we are encouraged to have a side hustle – to explore all aspects of ourselves and so many people are holding down full time jobs whilst at the same time running a POP up, designing clothes or like me DJ’ing. That’s all before we deal with all the normal non-work commitments and getting all of these to align harmoniously with our day job can be a tricky juggling act at the best of times.

Here are my 5 simple tips to help you achieve this:

1) Prioritise

There is no point having a to-do list if nothing on it gets done. So that it does, prioritise into four categories: 1) Urgent and important, 2) Important but not urgent, 3) Urgent but not important, 4) Neither urgent nor important. Then tackle it point by point.

2) Manage

Create a timeline of activities in an xl or a Word table, have dates along one axis, with activities along another. Be realistic, set goals, define your priorities and structure your time around them. Group together similar tasks to efficiently achieve high priority, medium priority etc. This will allow you to plan-ahead and be organised for future activities. There are some really good apps for this as well – Trello is particularly good.

3) Utilise Technology to maximise your time

Make maximum usage of technology to work smarter and increase productivity. There are lots of apps you can use to help you do this. Have a daily planner with reminder(s) on your smartphone to help you stay on top of your schedule. Utilise your daily commute and maximise the time you do have: Lunch break, before work, after work and weekends. But remember to build in some down time – you need to breathe!

4) Re-charge, exercise and be healthy

Applying points 1 and 2 will help free up your time. It’s easy to sacrifice exercise and a balanced diet to free up even more. Don’t! Your health will suffer and resulting illness and poor energy levels will impact your time. A healthy body means a healthy mind – you will function most efficiently if you make time to stay fit and healthy.

5) Review and Adapt

Review daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. What worked? What didn’t? What went wrong? What can you do differently? Utilise your network for help, advice and guidance.

Here’s to a well-balanced 2019!