The Balancing Act

"Work-Life Balance" is one of the most discussed topics in today's context and one of the most loosely practiced when it comes to real life. The term work-life balance itself distances your work from the other aspects of life, which could be impractical in my opinion. The work you do, of course, plays a major role in your life and therefore should be considered an integral part of it in your balancing act. This daily juggle is not an easy task, but it is not that hard if you find the right chemistry for it. The balancing act is all about maintaining a harmonious chemistry between all aspects of life. In today's complicated context, there are many aspects that demand your attention and time. In order to maintain a good balance, it is important to understand what is important, what tasks should be given priority, and how much time is allocated to each task. In order to achieve this, we have to carefully manage a few aspects of our day-to-day life.

First of all, understand what the important aspects of your life are. This can be different from one person to another. But in general, aspects such as finances, career, family, relationships, academics, spirituality, social life, and physical well-being can be considered top priorities. Any subset of these can complete your wheel of life. This means your life is a combination of all of those. The reason it is called a wheel is that all aspects should move together for your life to be a smooth ride. If any aspect is ignored, then that part will lag behind, and therefore your life will stagnate at a point. Below is an example of a common wheel of life indicated by Toolshero[1].

After figuring out the most integral parts of your wheel, the next step is to understand where you stand in each aspect of life. Ask yourself a few questions such as:

●????? How financially stable are you?

●????? How strong are your relationships?

●????? How healthy are you in both mental and physical aspects?

These questions will lead you to understand where you stand in part of your wheel. Most probably, your wheel would look like the one below.

As you can clearly see, this does not form a circle. Therefore, this will not move forward without significant effort. Instead, this will force your life to stagnate at one point, thus leading you to many disappointments. Simply because you are working hard and making a lot of effort, without getting any significant results. But the point you are missing is that you are not distributing your efforts proportionally to all aspects of your life.

The key point to understand here is that if you operate at a slower pace with all aspects, it will give you better balance than having 2 of them at 9 and 3 of them at 1. Having a balanced life is not about doing everything perfectly. As told before, it is about having a harmonious relationship between each aspect of life. So it is important to move all aspects forward at the same pace. So before looking at the aspects that are lagging behind, focus on the aspects you are excelling in. Then understand the reason why you excel in those. It might be because you are giving more time, focused, and deploying more resources into those aspects. The balancing act is about leveraging your focus and resources to the areas appropriately. This does not always mean equally. It simply means resources should be leveraged based on the priority of each aspect.

Time Management

Time is the most important resource that has to be leveraged to maintain the balance of your life's aspects. Whether we like it or not, we only have 24 hours a day. Therefore, it is important to manage the limited time we have in an effective manner.

The easiest way to manage time is to make a schedule that fulfills all the tasks at hand. At least plan a week in advance and make sure to adhere to the same. This should include all aspects based on priority and the duration assigned to the respective task. But be open to changes in this plan. In life, everything does not happen as we plan. It is important to embrace changes by knowing the consequences of the same. While making the maximum effort to adhere to your plan, plan the necessary changes when needed.

Always keep in mind that priorities, commitments, even the hardest decisions have a probability of change. Therefore, do not panic at the slightest change in your perfectly drawn plan. Instead, accept and absorb them into your plan to make it better and more practical.

Productivity

Time Management and Productivity go hand in hand in achieving the expected harmonic relationship of life. Productivity defines the amount of results generated from the assigned resources. In today's society, it is very easy to be distracted and less productive. Specifically with social media, most individuals find it difficult to focus on the task that has to be fulfilled in the given time slot.

Goal-setting is an integral part of being effectively productive. An exciting goal can help improve focus and therefore productivity. A goal should always serve a purpose that is important. Always ask "why" before you ask "what". The answer to your "why" is the purpose that will be served and then decide what needs to be done and how it should be done.

Another important point to remember in achieving productivity is to avoid "perfection". There is no perfect moment to commence a task or there are no perfect conditions to complete a task. Imperfections will always be there. Therefore, it is important to start and be focused regardless of the external factors that are not relevant to the completion of the tasks.

Setting up boundaries is another factor that will help improve productivity. It is important to understand what the priorities are and to say "No" to tasks that are not in line with the priorities. It is not a bad thing to have your own priorities and respect them. It will surely help in being focused and productive.

Stress Management

Stress is a common term associated with work-life balance, mainly as a result of the absence of a harmonious relationship between different aspects of life. That's why it is important to operate at a comfortable pace in all aspects, rather than excelling highly in one while missing out on all others. The easiest way to manage stress is to enjoy what you do. This may not always seem possible, but one should be smart enough to find joy and enjoy what you do. It’s an art to keep yourself happy. Practicing it will massively help control stress and see the positive side of each scenario without being stressed about it.

Also, detoxing yourself from time to time is a good way to manage stress. Celebrating small wins and milestones, unplugging for a few days and evaluating where you stand, guided meditation, physical exercises, deep-rooted conversations are some of the easiest ways to detox yourself from negative thoughts and energy.

Relationship Management

Relationships play a major role in maintaining the balancing act. Every aspect of life needs managing relationships. Every relationship has its own challenges. But if managed properly, relationships can help you reach heights that you can never reach by yourself. There is a common saying that says “If you want to go fast, travel alone. But if you want to go far, then travel together,” which means to maintain better relationships if you are to achieve higher goals. Also, it is important to make sure you keep the correct relationships with correct people. The key to every successful relationships is communication. But it is not about freely expressing yourself to everyone. It’s about effectively communicating your ideas and keeping the other person appropriately informed. It can help have better relationships and therefore better balance in all aspects of your life.

In general, there is no exact formula to maintain a balancing act. It is all about knowing your purpose and aligning your priorities to serve that purpose. Then operating at a comfortable pace to bring all aspects together in a harmonious way. Even though each and every individual can have their own method of achieving it, the final result will be a fulfilling life worth living.

Mulder, P. (2017). Wheel of Life Assessment. Retrieved [1st Feb 2024] from Toolshero: https://www.toolshero.com/psychology/wheel-of-life/

?With over a decade of experience in diverse leadership roles spanning across project management, technology advisory, and strategic planning, Saranga Perera has cultivated a robust skill set in driving organizational growth and operational excellence. Her journey includes serving as the Chief Operating Officer at QualitApps, where she oversees team management and business strategy, leveraging her expertise in remote operations. Prior to her role at QualitApps, Saranga served as the Chief Information Officer at the same company, spearheading strategic initiatives and fostering high-performing teams. She also served as a Technology Advisory Lead at Ernst & Young, where she contributed to various system implementation projects and provided leadership within the PMO. Her tenure at National Development Bank PLC equipped her with invaluable insights into system support and risk management, further honing her abilities in driving operational stability. Armed with a Master's degree in Business Information Management from the University of Wales, Cardiff, and a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology from the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Saranga brings a comprehensive understanding of technology-driven business dynamics and a track record of delivering impactful projects.