Balance, the thing we all struggle with. Even those of us who love to think we have it all together. We always feel like somewhere we are failing. We either do awesome at work and don’t have enough time at home, or you do awesome at home but your work struggles. You can keep the house clean, but you forget to defrost the chicken. Somewhere we struggle. Today I am sharing 7 ways to find balance. Or at least make yourself think you are finding balance. Fake it till you make it right?
7 Ways To Find Balance
Stick to a schedule (when you can): Having a schedule is great for me. I am such a type A planner that I have to schedule my days out. The great thing is with having a solid schedule my kid naps exactly when he should. He also sleeps at night at the same time! This gives my husband and I together time to eat dinner, watch a TV show, talk, even just clean the kitchen!
Carve out time for you: I know for me personally I feel the most stressed when I realize I haven’t had so much as 5 minutes to myself. There are days where even taking a shower feels rushed because I know Liam will be up from his nap any minute. You have to find time for yourself. Even 15 minutes to do a face mask or read a book.
Turn off screens: My husband and I are so guilty of getting in bed and turning on the TV and sitting on our phones. Why? Because that’s the age we live in. Sometimes you need to just have no screen nights. Turn off the TV and play a game, talk to each other, do a puzzle, even read! Put the phones in another room, or on your nightstand.
Have a planned date night: It took us 14 weeks after having Liam to have our first post baby date. We couldn’t believe how weird it felt to be together without him. One of us is usually with him! We ran some errands and went to lunch and it was wonderful! We are working on having 2 planned date nights a month because that time together gives us such balance as parents. It makes us better parents.
Budget for a babysitter: On that note if you need a date night away from the kids, you have to budget for babysitting. While both my parents live in Dallas, they have jobs and lives and aren’t always free to babysit. Thankfully we have an arsenal of sitters ready to hang with our little dude. We work babysitting into our monthly budget because some months it’s far more important than buying new clothes or going to a fancy restaurant.
Ask for help when you need it: We are hardwired to want to do everything, but it’s just not realistic. You have to ask for help. Ask your parents to give you a date night, ask your husband to let you have a day to yourself, ask a friend to help, just ask for help. I know it’s hard sometimes but we all need it!
Give yourself grace: At the end of the day remember that we can only try our best. Every day is a new chance to get it right and no one is perfect.
I hope you found my 7 ways to find balance helpful. I would love to know what you would add to this list!
This is such helpful and practical advice. I definitely feel more balanced when I follow these principles. We have just started listening to short 5 minute meditations before bed and it is really helping me switch off from the day.
I dont have my own wife and kids so I do find a lot of time for myself, but turning off the screens is a must! I gotta try it. Sleeping will be so much better.
This is lovely advice, that everyone should keep in mind. It’s definitely important to take a step back, and remembering these little things truly go a long way 🙂
Excellent tips! Balance is something we all can strive for to improve our lives. I’ve been practicing mindfulness and it really helps give things perspective. We absolutely swear by date night! It helps to reconnect. 🙂
These are such great tips, especially carving out time. This may sound crazy but I have actually started adding “TV time” to my schedule. Not because I feel like I need to watch TV, but because I know when I turn on a show, I usually let myself just relax and not think or worry about other things. It’s almost this forced balance time for me, as strange as that may seem.
Asking for help when you need it! Yes, I have to constantly remind myself that I don’t need to take on that “army of 1” type of attitude about things and use the resources that are available.
I am so bad with screen time control. I get so side tract. Ugh!! I quit my outside the home job and was doing well with scheduling my day but then I was given an opportunity to work from home for just a few hours a day doing the same thing and now some days I’m just too tired. lol.
I love your blog. Thank you!!
Putting the screens away is a such a helpful tip. I hate when my hubby is glued to his phone constantly. Pay attention to the rest of us a little please!
I learned this the hard way, but I’m getting better at letting my husband know when I need time for myself. He happily takes the kids so I can get a break, and I come back a better mama. Great list!
It can be so tough to find balance! I live off my planner and try to find some “me” time in the mornings while I prep for the world with some coffee, and we have a “no screens in the bedroom” rule (well, with the exception of having our phones across the rooms for alarm clocks) to unplug before going to bed.
I love this post. Especially the part about giving ourselves grace. We are human and certainly learning as we go, so why do we put so much pressure on ourselves to get things right all the time. When we accept the fact that we are going to make mistakes, it’s a lot easier to take in stride when those mistakes do indeed happen.
Having a planned date night has something that has been a challenge. It seems like everything including money keeps getting in the way. But we really should make it more of a priority.
It’s hard to find balance when you’re getting overload from every direction. I have that going on with work right now. Grateful for my job, but i”d sure like to breathe for a minute. 😉
Having a planned date night is a great way for family balance! Hope you’ll be able to keep up with it!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
This is such helpful and practical advice. I definitely feel more balanced when I follow these principles. We have just started listening to short 5 minute meditations before bed and it is really helping me switch off from the day.
Most people do not know how to strike that balance…but balance is key to all our lives
I love all of these tips! Very practical. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I dont have my own wife and kids so I do find a lot of time for myself, but turning off the screens is a must! I gotta try it. Sleeping will be so much better.
This is lovely advice, that everyone should keep in mind. It’s definitely important to take a step back, and remembering these little things truly go a long way 🙂
planned date nights are THE BEST!
Excellent tips! Balance is something we all can strive for to improve our lives. I’ve been practicing mindfulness and it really helps give things perspective. We absolutely swear by date night! It helps to reconnect. 🙂
These are such great tips, especially carving out time. This may sound crazy but I have actually started adding “TV time” to my schedule. Not because I feel like I need to watch TV, but because I know when I turn on a show, I usually let myself just relax and not think or worry about other things. It’s almost this forced balance time for me, as strange as that may seem.
YES! I totally get that. To me it’s no different than scheduling a work out, or reminding yourself to drink water.
Asking for help when you need it! Yes, I have to constantly remind myself that I don’t need to take on that “army of 1” type of attitude about things and use the resources that are available.
YES! We are all so programmed to think asking for help is weak
I do need to focus on time away from screens. It’s nice to be able to sit down and connect with people without the interruptions.
Love these tips. They’re all so important to remember. Thank you for sharing!
Turning off screens is SO important and so hard in this day- and routines really help me so much, too.
I am so bad with screen time control. I get so side tract. Ugh!! I quit my outside the home job and was doing well with scheduling my day but then I was given an opportunity to work from home for just a few hours a day doing the same thing and now some days I’m just too tired. lol.
I love your blog. Thank you!!
Putting the screens away is a such a helpful tip. I hate when my hubby is glued to his phone constantly. Pay attention to the rest of us a little please!
I need balance. And, I totally agree about time away from screens as a great way to find it.
I learned this the hard way, but I’m getting better at letting my husband know when I need time for myself. He happily takes the kids so I can get a break, and I come back a better mama. Great list!
It can be so tough to find balance! I live off my planner and try to find some “me” time in the mornings while I prep for the world with some coffee, and we have a “no screens in the bedroom” rule (well, with the exception of having our phones across the rooms for alarm clocks) to unplug before going to bed.
I love this post. Especially the part about giving ourselves grace. We are human and certainly learning as we go, so why do we put so much pressure on ourselves to get things right all the time. When we accept the fact that we are going to make mistakes, it’s a lot easier to take in stride when those mistakes do indeed happen.
Great ideas! It is so important to take care of yourself!
Having a planned date night has something that has been a challenge. It seems like everything including money keeps getting in the way. But we really should make it more of a priority.
That’s a great get to a way of balance and these things also deal with the life.
These are great ways to find balance in life especially if you lead a busy lifestyle its always great to find some footing
I have difficult time finding balance in my life. I either work too much and do not have time for my friends and vice versa. Great tips though!
Asking for help is one the hardest things for me to do. Second, would be giving myself grace. God does, so why shouldn’t I?!?
It’s hard to find balance when you’re getting overload from every direction. I have that going on with work right now. Grateful for my job, but i”d sure like to breathe for a minute. 😉