During these past months our lives have gone through extreme changes, so much so that our work-life is intertwined with our family time, so the question is, how can we find this work/life balance? This is an issue that is affecting the vast majority of people because we have had, in a way, a clash between our personal and work time, and it’s in times like these when time management is crucial.
When we talk about balance we think about how we can get things to be equally even on both or all areas, but the reality is that at this time the best we can do is find harmony between these two areas, and learn how to give each one its place and time. For me the key here is in how we are managing our time so that we can maximize it with the least possible distractions, and a tool that I use a lot, as those who follow me already know, is creating schedules while taking into account everything that is a priority. These schedules or agendas have to be done on a weekly and daily basis. The weekly agenda gives me a overall vision of those events that are taking place throughout the week, while the purpose of the daily agenda is to incorporate those unforeseen events that occur during the day mainly with the people we have at home.
Another factor that adds to the lack of harmony is stress, which we have all been experiencing throughout this pandemic, and because of it we need to start paying more attention to our personal area in order to maintain the emotional balance that we need so much during this time, and yes, this is a tough area since nowadays is hard to just find the time to give our minds a break, which can actually end up impacting our performance, nonetheless, the solution is simple but requires discipline, and it consists of avoiding as much as possible to bring work related issues during our personal or family time, it doesn’t matter that our office is next to our bedroom at the moment, here is when need to create that mental distinction between work and personal/family time since we cannot have it physically, this way we will be able to give each area the time and space that it needs.
Whether we find balance or just harmony between these two areas of our lives, in the end the goal is our personal well-being and the well-being of our loved ones, and once we learn to identify our priorities in life, only then we can fully enjoy what really matters.
Natalia Jaramillo 