Every day more and more people are finding it harder to separate their work from their personal life.  What once might have been a clear line now seems blurry.  Having balance between your work and personal life may seem like an impossible dream to many!

Do you feel overwhelmed and frustrated because some parts of your life are exactly where you want them to be while other parts suffer?  When you strive to achieve balance between your work and personal life, don´t make this a goal, rather, the goal should be to move towards balance. It is a continuous goal as your work and personal life change, so do your priorities and interests.

Time management skills and tools can really give you the push you are looking for to start feeling more in-balance.  Here are a few time management tips to get you going:

• Balance is about making choices – You need to make choices on a daily basis and not say yes to everything! You need to be assertive when you make choices and say no sometimes if needed. If you say ¨yes¨ to everything, you will definitely feel overwhelmed and stressed.
• How are you currently spending your time? Do you know what you spend your time on really? How much time do you waste because you are taking longer to do things, because you don´t manage your tasks or work with a system? If you spend some time analyzing how you spend your time, where you can improve and save time, you will create more hours a week instantly. (provided you make the changes).
• Mentally disconnect when you leave work. Before you leave, plan the next day so that you know what you will be doing and you can forget about it! If you think about things you have to do tomorrow, note them down on a paper or somewhere so you won’t forget it and stop thinking about it – disconnect!
• Include down time into your schedule, plan time to spend with family and friends or things you like doing. This is will give you something to look forward to and you will feel more balanced!
• Think about all the things that you are putting up with and tolerating that you don´t have to. What are they and why are you doing it? Drop the activities that take up your energy!

Balance means something different to everyone and what we need to do to create balance is also different for everyone. Ensure that you are living by your values, when we are not living congruently with our values, we feel out of balance. What would make you feel more balanced? What does a work-life balance look like to you and what does it mean? Then take the necessary steps to start changing what is not working and include what will work better for you!