
©Atemi Sports
Last week, in Blog 28 we talked about work-life balance being more like a tension than a balance and suggested an Atwood machine reflects the approach. Perhaps the cartoon (above) reflects the tension best as we find sometimes work demands more of us and at other times it is the weight of life. We need to be prepared to adjust and change while knowing who we are and where we are going. This will help us maintain a balance in through the challenges life presents. The only thing that doesn’t change is change.
This week we will provide some habits and rhythms that may prove helpful to maintain that tension, but first . . . let’s just revisit those two foundations for improving your work-life balance from the last blog:
- On the days you don’t know what to choose, choose mental health
- Maintain your growth mindset
Ten tools will be provided to build on these foundations. Five this week and five next (to give you a chance to reflect on smaller pieces of information):
1. Know your rich life & keep it in purview
We introduced this concept in Blog 3. Again, ‘rich’ is not necessarily about money. A rich life is about
A life that is full. A life lived intentionally, proactively, and abundantly
Ramit Sethi
What does that look like to you? It could be as simple as a cup of coffee and reading the paper in the winter sun or dropping the kids off at school or going camping with good friends for a weekend. Think through what those rich life activities are in your life and embed them in your rhythms and plans. You should have this list written down somewhere!
2. Know your professional pathway – where are you headed?
You may be working hard climbing the ladder but is it against the right wall? Take time to have some of those professional career conversations to understand if you are on the right pathway. That means you may need to find some mentors in your field or people you value in your industry to provide some insight. And make sure you keep having these conversations a couple of times at least each year. What are the things you should be doing that will make the most impact? Align these things against your current pressures. You may find some low-return work activities you that can be thrown out or tossed overboard.
3. Know your professional pathway – backward map

Here’s another suggestion that might help to ascertain whether what you are busy doing at work is getting you to your goal. Find someone who is doing the job or living the life you want to live. Spend some time researching them to find out how they got there and what they were doing 10 years ago. This way you can map their career pathway and provide a possible career template for you. If you know them, better still – take them for a coffee and ask them some good questions about their journey. It will help you map your pathway.
4. Know how you are wired

©Wikiow
There are plenty of courses to help you gain deeper self-awareness like the Enneagram, Myers Briggs, Belbin . . . there are endless tools you can use to understand the unique you and how you are wired. And if that doesn’t help to understand you, ask a friend, colleague or family member. If you can see yourself clearly you can better understand the work-life tension and why you always find it hard to say no, or want to please people, or are driven by accolades or . . . we all have blind spots and traits we need to manage. Understanding how you are wired and what drives you will help you understand the tensions you face.
5. Know your limitations
And while you’re in that space of understanding how you are wired, understand your limitations. If you try to lift a weight that is too heavy, it may result in an injury. In the same way, consider your emotional limits. What pushes your buttons and sets you ‘off’? Is it you need to stop for lunch each day . . . and eat? Maybe you expect too much of yourself and need to reduce your expectations. Perhaps negative or grumpy people impact you. While you are reflecting, also consider when you are at your best and make adjustments to your life’s rhythms. It may be that you are never your best in the afternoon or don’t operate well with less than seven hours sleep.
Can you see how a lot of the secret to improving work-life balance comes down to knowing yourself?
The sum of all these things to know is you will learn how to keep the tension as you apply some margins to your life and take time to reflect. Try to move past “yeah, I should do that” to having margins and space in your life so you can get to know you better . . . so you can make the changes you need and get that work-life tension into a better spot.
There’s a Part 3 to this series, so expect another five habits for your life’s rhythm next week.
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