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Why We Need Balance in Life (+ How to Find It)

Why We Need Balance in Life (+ How to Find It)

Simplifying and decluttering our home and life helps us create a balance through simplicity. We’re better able to manage the challenges of daily life and still have space, time and freedom for what matters. In this article we explore why we need balance in life and 7 ways to find balance in your every day.

WHAT IS BALANCE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Balance Through Simplicity is the name of my website. In all honesty, I thought long and hard before settling on the word ‘balance’ because I didn’t want it to be misinterpreted – for being perfect, poised, fragile or rigid.

Over the years I’ve juggled motherhood and career and over those years, they’ve taken up my time, energy and self in many different ways.

I don’t mean this in a bad way, but everything that we do in life has a consequence. Trying to be a great parent, a great employee, a great partner, friend and any of the other hats I’ve found myself wearing over that time, have all come with immense benefits and I wouldn’t swap them for the world, but they’ve also required my time, energy, freedom, money and more.

In navigating through the different seasons of life and treading the path of having kids whilst running my own business, one of the greatest lessons I’ve learnt is finding balance.

Not a perfect, poised, fragile or rigid balance that I mentioned at the outset. Instead it’s a balance that has space to swing and shift to find it’s own equilibrium depending on what I’m doing and what I need at the time – without the risk of toppling over.

Balance helped me juggle personal and professional, work and kids, time spent running errands with time for myself to recharge my batteries. Balance helps me prioritise and give space to what I, or my family, need most right now and let the rest go.

So, perhaps you’re reading this and thinking:

  • You need a bit of flexibility or wiggle room in your life
  • You’d like the balance to shift more easily between the different areas of your life that require something of you
  • Your life feels like a thread pulled too tight and ready to snap, or
  • You’re struggling, frustrated or unsettled from doing too much, maybe even of the wrong things…

Then perhaps you might benefit from a little more balance in your life.

BALANCE THROUGH SIMPLICITY

Much of what I’ve mentioned above is about managing your time effectively and getting organised. It’s true to say that productivity and time management tips make life a lot easier – whether that’s running your home, your diary or your work schedule.

However, I also believe that simplicity is the real secret sauce to a better, balanced life.

Simplifying your life, defining your priorities and decluttering the stuff in your home and life that removes you from truly living that life, can give you space, time and freedom. When life is out of balance, you might already notice a lack of these!

In turn, these wonderful but sometimes elusive resources can help you navigate life with more ease and less stress. You can adjust your schedules, your self-care habits and routines, you can say no to things when they don’t support you, listen to your body and mind and what it needs and give to your family (or your work or whatever) when they need you.

There are so many components to life – health, happiness, home, social and relationships, financial, hobbies and interests, to name but a few – that squeezing them into an overstuffed life, gives you little time for anything else, let alone adapt to a change in situation.

SIMPLIFYING LIFE

By decluttering and simplifying life you are creating space, not just in your home but in your schedule, heart and mind. You can use that space for whatever you want and need at the time, without worrying you’re dropping one of those juggling balls or spinning plates.

Perhaps work needs you most right now, or your family, or your mental health… let the balance shift to supporting these things and then let it swing back to happy status quo ready for the next time life is needing something from you. Let the balance shift, ebb and flow to where you need to focus your time, energy and attention.

That’s why I believe that we can all benefit from balance in our lives and I hope my website can guide you to achieve that by simplifying and decluttering the different elements of your life.

In this article, I’ll be sharing 7 ways you can find balance in your daily life but before I do that, I think it’s important to recognise some of the signs when we don’t have balance. We’ll look at these next…

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR LIFE IS OUT OF BALANCE

It happens to us all. Sometimes life gets busy, stressful situations come up or external factors beyond our control really test us. It’s at times like this that having a generally balanced life is so important.

But how do you know when your life is out of balance?

I’m not talking about the obvious things such as money troubles, ill health, relationship struggles. These really test us all. There are some other signs that give us a clue to how balanced our life is or isn’t and whether we need to make a few tweaks to nudge us back to a healthier equilibrium. Do you recognise any of them?

1. Negative Emotions Become More Prevalent

Frustration, anger, anxiety, procrastination, indecision and resentment are just a few signs of a life that’s heavy on our heart and mind, especially if they’re persistent and daily. If what we can achieve is determined by our mindset then you might want to think about shifting your negative emotions to positive ones to achieve what you’re so totally capable of achieving. 

2. Your Body Is Trying To Tell You Something

Difficulty sleeping, headaches and poor concentration are just some of the physical signs that your body is struggling to keep up with your lifestyle. Your body needs to work hard for you every day so listen to it when its needs aren’t being met. You know your body better than anyone so be the true best friend your body deserves.

As a starting point, for example, do you recognise any of these signs you are too busy?

3. Adopting Unhealthy Habits

Too much coffee, sugar, alcohol or smoking, for example, plus the less obvious ones such as blaming other people, always making excuses, putting things off, staying up too late. Replace these things with constructive healthy habits that support you physically, emotionally and psychologically.

4. Envy

Never compare yourself to others. It brings no joy and doesn’t solve the root problem. If someone else’s life seems better than your own, stop considering their life and reconsider yours. It may sound like tough love but this is your life, right now. Be responsible for it. Be present. Be intentional.

Why we need balance in life and how to find it

7 WAYS TO FIND BALANCE IN YOUR EVERY DAY

If you’d like to explore some ways to declutter and simplify your life and find a better balance through simplicity, here are some suggestions for you to try…

1. Declutter Your Home

Declutter your unwanted stuff and create some routines to keep your home clutter-free and clean with minimal effort from you. This will mean you’ll have more time and energy for other things, especially when you need it most.

2. Define Your Priorities

When you’re unsure of your plans for next week, your goals for 5 years’ time or even what you’d like to do tomorrow, it’s easy to waste your time dithering around.

You lose focus, seldom achieve what you’d like to achieve and miss opportunities. Instead you’re too busy doing the wrong things or have tunnel vision as you lurch from one day to the next.

Identify your priorities and make a point of doing something towards these every day.

3. Keep A Healthy Work-Life Balance

I’m all too familiar with the signs of burn out from a poor work-life balance and it’s one of my own priorities to make sure that I check in regularly with myself and my husband to ensure we don’t blur those boundaries.

Of course, we have busy, stressful times at work (especially as we run our own business!). I’m aware that work is important but there are other things which are more important. I concentrate on being as efficient and productive as possible at work and make a conscious effort to not bring work home with me.

4. Your Spending – Money And Time

Here I’m talking about how you spend both your money and your time. Neither of these resources should be spent unwisely. Be very careful how you use them, invest them with thought and make sure that what you receive in return for spending them is worth it. Money can be replaced but your time can’t. Do you recognise these signs of being too busy in yourself?

5. Respect Your Boundaries

Boundaries are an invisible force field which protects you from life. They empower you to say no when you need to, to let go when something’s not in your best interests, to make you feel better when you’re feeling down. Boundaries preserve your sense of self when busy life comes charging at you.

6. Protect Your Mental Health

So much of how we approach life is down to our mindset. What we think and feel determines our decisions and actions so make a point of being kind to yourself, prioritise you, not just the people around you, take exercise, eat healthily and listen to your body and mind when they’re calling.

7. Do Something You Love Every Day

It could be eating chocolate or cuddling your dog. Get those happy feelings flowing around your body, recognise that you are important and special and balance your emotional and psychological needs alongside the needs of your To Do list! Your To Do list can wait for a while but seeking out happiness is a priority many of us don’t find often enough. Read more about my thoughts on simplicity and happiness.

YOUR NEXT STEP…

“Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create.” (Jana Kingsford)

Balance is something that we don’t always recognise as important, or if we do, we struggle to find it and keep it.

Life pulls and pushes us in different directions and demands much. Simplifying and decluttering life, our homes, our schedules, our limiting beliefs and so much more can help redress the balance.

Balance in life isn’t about seeking perfection or worrying that the problems of tomorrow will disrupt our perfect equilibrium. Instead, to me, balance is about finding space in your life for what’s important.

Balance helps us tend to and nurture the different elements of our life without worrying that we’ve let something else slide in the process.

If finding balance in your own life is something you’d like to explore, I invite you to check out my free Declutter Starter Kit. It’s a workbook designed to help you create space (and balance!) in your home, schedule, heart and mind.