Typically I do New Year resolutions, but then I get frustrated if I don’t keep up with one or it doesn’t go how I expected it to. So this year I decided to pick a WORD of the year instead. I chose BALANCE. Balance is key to everything in life, and something I am not very good at. But that changes this year! This girl is going to conquer the balancing of life act now and going forward in life. I am determined!
The Reasoning Behind The Word Choice
This past year I have been terrible at putting myself last. Work, real estate clients, my blog, friends, family, and my husband came before my well being and it was really taking a toll on me. I kept saying “YES” to everything, even when my plate was literally overflowing. I felt like I could do it all, but quickly realized I am not superwoman and I actually CAN’T do it all on my own. And that’s okay! No one can do the jobs of three people, maintain a social life, keep up with house chores and errands, and take care of themselves at a healthy level.
Somehow 2020 became even BUSIER for me and more demanding than other years in my life. I work from home and have for four years now, so it can be hard to just stop and remember to take breaks at times. I started to work four ten hour days to have Fridays off to be able to be free for real estate and work on the blog. Doing that though, I started to maybe get a quick 20 minute break in during the work day to eat real quick and that was about it. My day job consists of me being on the phone back to back the majority of the day and handling 50 to 100+ emails a day, as well as lots of admin items and meetings. So there is not a lot of “free time” or time to take breaks when I need them. I am thankful to have a job I can do from home and that can be flexible, but it can be overwhelming when I am handling a large client on my own.
Then, I had a couple real estate clients who were all so sweet and amazing. As buyers though, that means showing lots of houses, talking to other realtors on questions for properties, writing contracts, doing inspections, negotiations, closing, and all that comes with being a realtor. In the housing market this year, I needed to jump and get to showing a client a home as soon as it came up so we had a chance at winning the offer. Needless to say, if I had plans and a house came up, it often led to rescheduling whatever I had on my schedule. This also would occupy my after work, Fridays off, and weekend time when I had a client. I was lucky enough to do several closings even with COVID this year.
The blog is my passion and something I always look forward to working on, but it also often gets put on the back burner. To make up for this and work on ideas, editing, captions for Instagram, etc…I stay up into the early AM hours and started to get maybe 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night max. And then I would wake up, go straight to starting work and the cycle kept repeating. I honestly feel like I was slacking so much here and it was the one “job” I really looked forward to. I was doing 70% in all aspects of my life and kept feeling like I was disappointing someone or myself.
My relief was Friday and the weekends when I could actually get 8 hours of sleep in and unwind a bit with Matt. We did walks every evening when the weather permitted to get outside and catch up. We also did a lot of driving around, doing blog shoots, and cuddling with our kitties and watching Netflix.
But Monday morning came around and my stress level would skyrocket, self care would be minimal, and sleep was fleeting. I had two doctor appointments for check ups during this time and both times was told my blood pressure was high. I would go on a break from work and just be so stressed out that I would get in trouble for being gone too long or be late for a scheduled call. By the time November rolled around and I was handling my client’s benefits open enrollment by myself working 50 hours a week and still trying to manage my other jobs and life itself. Working as much as I was going from one job to the next with no real break was taking a major toll on me. There were so many days where if I had 20 minutes, I would use it to just close my eyes because I was so exhausted. I realized I had ZERO balance in my life. I was falling apart at the seams and am still trying to catch up. Normally I would get a bit of reprieve for a couple days or a week here and there for a vacation, but COVID stopped that from happening this year like normal. I am the type of person who is just “go, go, go” until I am forced to take a break with a vacation, but this year was all “go, go, go” with no stopping.
At the end of 2020, I was lucky enough to take the last 2 weeks off to spend it with Matt and our families. I had some time to self reflect and think about my goals and needs for this next year. It was clear that I HAVE to work on balancing all aspects of my life. 2021 is all about BALANCE for me to maintain a healthy and happy relationships with myself and the ones I love.
Aspects of Balance
I am going to balance my entire life:
Work-life balance. I am going to actually take breaks during the work days when I need to. Take a day off if I need to and not feel bad about it. Block my schedule so I can have time before work to wake up and prep for the day before jumping right in. I will manage my time and days better to have time for myself, time for my day job, time to work on the blog, time for real estate clients, and then downtime in the evenings to spend with Matt and my kitties. Each day I will set aside time to manage my emails and DMS on Instagram for the blog before they get out of control. I am going to focus on big goals and make a plan of action to achieve them. I am going to have a healthier, happier work-life balance!
Health & Fitness balance. I am someone who feels better when I get exercise in at least 5 days a week. Last year I failed to put that first and became frustrated on days I didn’t get it in. I’m going to balance my workouts and trying to eat healthier with rest days and indulging in my favorite meals and wine and champagne. I am going to listen to my body and not beat myself up for taking a rest day if I need to. I am going to be healthier in body, eating habits, mind, and soul this year!
Self-Care Balance. I love a good self care day, but I rarely put that at the top of my priority list. Focusing on allowing time for myself before the workday starts to wake up, get energized, and set my goals and intentions for the day will be a priority. I will do self-care tasks at least once everyday, whether that be getting in a workout, allowing myself to watch a favorite show(like Real Housewives), take a nap if I need to, take a bubble bath, doing a face mask, or getting my nails done. I’ll take time off of work when I need it to avoid getting too burnt out or overwhelmed. I am going to make myself and my own self-care a priority this year!
Relationship Balance. I am going to focus on being more present in the moment this year with all my relationships: my husband, my family, my friends. I often feel like I always have something I need to be doing with work or home(organizing, projects, etc…) that I am multi-tasking and not fully present in the moment or in conversations. I will focus on having a one on one date night each week with Matt where we put our phones down. I am going to check in with family and friends each week via phone call or text and really be present in the conversation and not be multi-tasking while chatting with them. I am going to make my relationships a priority this year and truly focus on being 100% present.
Social Media Balance. Social media is so great for connecting and allows me to have my platform on Instagram, but it can be overwhelming at times. I am going to work on balancing that and only allowing a certain amount of time on Instagram, Pinterest, working on my blog, etc… each day. I am going to plan out Instagram content and blog posts so I have a plan and know exactly what I am posting each day and have it done in advance to allow me to have less time working on those items. Less screen time is a good thing and can definitely benefit mental health. I am going to work smarter and more efficiently to have a better balance with social media this year!
There are so many ways that balance truly does affect your health and your life. I am hoping that these changes will help my stress, my mental health, and overall improve my quality of life. If you have any tips on how to conquer balance in life, please let me know in the comments! Thank you so much for reading, and cheers to 2021!
