Finding Balance in Life

Written by Emily McBride (last updated October 8, 2009)

It's all too easy to get caught up in one good part of life and lose focus on the other parts. It's important to have balance in your life and spend enough time with each different aspect. You will be a lot less stressed, a lot more at peace, and much more happy if you live a balanced life.

The different things you do in your life fall into different categories. For example, exercising falls into physical while attending a church service falls into spiritual. The four categories of health are Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual. To be truly healthy, you must be paying enough time and attention to each of these categories in your life.

To break these areas down further and into more realistic ways of how we spend our time, we can use the Life Balance Wheel. This wheel is a variation of eight categories: Mental, Social, Spiritual, Physical, Family, Professional, Financial, and Community. You should spend adequate amounts of time in your life in each of these categories in order to be truly balanced.

Knowing what areas in your life is important, but what exactly should you do to get your life balanced?

  • Evaluate. Get a weekly schedule and fill out exactly how you are spending your time for the whole week, hour by hour. Then, at the end of the week, categorize each of your activities and your time into one of the six categories. Add up the hours for each category and see how they stack up. Not every section requires the same amount of time, but make sure that you are spending at least some time in each. Sometimes it's surprising to see how you've been spending (or wasting) your time, so it's helpful to do this every few months or so.
  • Meditate. Set aside part of each day (even if it is only a few minutes) to have some quiet time to think and meditate. Think about how you are spending your time. Take notes on what is going well in your life, and also take notes on what categories you haven't been spending enough time in.
  • Learn to say no. You aren't magic—you won't be able to take advantage of every opportunity and say yes to every request. Learn to say no, and realize that you don't need to do everything—you just need to do your best.

Remember that having a balanced life is a continual process and has no quick fix. Be patient, continue setting goals, and don't give up!

Author Bio

Emily McBride

A senior majoring in English and editing at BYU, Emily hopes to enter the field of professional editing upon graduation. Emily has done humanitarian work in Africa and studied in London. She enjoys blogging, foreign films, and playing the piano. ...

MORE FROM EMILY

Cleaning Pet Urine

Did your pet have an "accident"? If so, you really need to get started on cleaning it up. While it may smell bad, it is ...

Discover More

Wedding Dress Cleaning

Do you want your wedding dress to look as good as it did the day you were married? Different fabrics and dresses require ...

Discover More

Cat Washing

Is your cat extra dirty? Cats don't like water, so it will take some extra tips and practice to get your cat looking good ...

Discover More
More Health Tips

Maintaining Personal Health at the Office

The office is the one place you are required to spend most of your time, but unfortunately, that environment may also be ...

Discover More

Ways Caffeine Affects You

Caffeine is a part of our daily rituals. It is everywhere, and in almost everything. We begin the day with a cup of ...

Discover More

How Long Does Staph Live on Surfaces?

Staph bacteria can live on surfaces for many weeks depending on the humidity level of the environment. It also lives on ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 2?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)