How To Balance Your Responsibilities

In a time of ever-shifting roles, it is imperative to understand the importance of creating a balance among your responsibilities. Balance helps keep a fine-tuned ship running on course. Without it, you are much more likely to become overwhelmed and burned out along the way. Try the following tips to create greater balance: 

1) Re-prioritize - When you begin feeling like you can't handle your load, it usually means your priorities are out of whack. Sit down and write out your priorities, then put them in order of greatest importance to you. This simple step will open your eyes to things you may be doing that do not fit into your priorities.

2) Share - Although you need to be sure to keep every responsibility you have, you should keep in mind that it is okay to dole out some of those responsibilities to others. Enlist the help of family members or friends as necessary. More importantly, don't feel bad for asking for help when you need it.

3) Release - After you make a new list of priorities, then start sharing some of your responsibilities with others, if you still feel overwhelmed, then it is probably time to say goodbye to some things. All too often, some people have a tendency to take on more than they can realistically handle. If you are one such person, it's time for you to admit to yourself that you simply don't have the time or energy to pull through. Let go of some of the things you've agreed to do.

4) Plan - A key part of balance is learning how to effectively plan your time. There are only 24 hours in one day. You should not expect to be able to do more than is humanly possible on any given day. Get a monthly and weekly calendar to keep track of all your committments, then plan your time accordingly. If something doesn't fit into your schedule, you simply must say no.

5) Rest - Finally, rest is probably the most important part of forming balance. Without rest, you become grumpy and irritable. You are much less productive because you don't physically feel like doing anything. In extreme cases, you can even become physically ill, due to lack of rest. Be sure to pencil in special time for relaxation and rest.