Chamber Insider Blog

Thank you to Cathy Wilkes, a Certified Life Mastery Consultant, CEO & Founder of 4U Global, for this guest blog post!

Do you notice that in your quest for personal or professional success you sometimes feel burnt out, overextended and tired? Or that it feels like there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you want to do, or to get a truly restful night of sleep?

Perhaps you’re a highly driven person who habitually puts others before yourself to the deficit of your own well-being and you’re finding it hard to give 100% of yourself to anyone at any given time? Success is the product of focus and perseverance, and we tend to fall into the pattern of believing that it’s achieved at the expense of our time, energy and even our happiness.

The truth is that knowing the importance of balance and harmony is a key factor for those who are highly successful in pursuing their dreams. Budgeting and prioritizing time to rest allows us to rejuvenate and energize, which ultimately makes us more productive. When we’re burnt out, we aren’t able to direct our time and energy in an optimal way.

Taking full days off to relax and recharge is just one way you can optimize your time and energy. Read on for three great ways to incorporate balance and harmony into your life and set yourself up for greater success.

Slide to Power Off

I recently heard of a new movement taking the college scene by storm – Digital Minimalism – launched by Cal Newport, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. He speaks about choosing a focused life in a noisy world. In today’s fast-paced, “always on” work culture, it can be challenging to draw boundaries between work time and personal time. Technology has made it very easy for work to blend into downtime, and we may often find ourselves answering a quick email on our lunch break, at the dinner table or in bed.

But working around the clock doesn’t actually make us more productive. When we’re consistently operating in overtime mode, we’re not operating at our best, and we’re more inclined to make mistakes and have to redo work. We’re not actually getting more accomplished.

Self-Care is Not Selfish

We’ve probably all heard the phrase “work smarter, not harder,” and this involves drawing and maintaining firm boundaries between work hours and the rest of your life.

So, make sure to take necessary breaks during your day – a few minutes every couple of hours helps our brains refresh. Learning how to relax is also an act of self-care that helps nurture our relationship to both ourselves and others.

Take a full lunch break and enjoy your lunch! Eat with friends, read a book, or just enjoy turning your thoughts away from work for an hour. Find a local salon and treat yourself to an express manicure or massage.

Similarly, when you clock out at the end of the day, be done with work until tomorrow. Sign out of work email, let phone calls go to voicemail, and so on.

F is for Fun

Schedule fun and exercise into your calendar just like you would any other meeting or appointment. It’s no secret that movement ups your energy and aliveness. And it’s harder to answer an email while you’re running, biking or swimming for example.

When I create my to-do list, I use it as a means to prioritize rather than taking on the urge to complete every task on the list. Creating a new level of awareness for what we love gives us the feeling of expansion and growth. When I look at my calendar and see fun activities scheduled for the weekend ahead, it makes staying heads down in the moment easier.

Nishant Shah, founder & CEO of BannerBuzz, says, “…a little discipline goes a long way. Work while you work, play while you play. Have some time in the day, even if it’s just an hour, where you put your phone and laptop away and do something you really like.” I whole-heartedly agree!

Thank you to Cathy Wilkes, a Certified Life Mastery Consultant, CEO & Founder of 4U Global, for this guest blog post!