Not saying I found it, so I hope you didn’t come here for the answer. The truth is you will never “find” balance. You have to create it and even when you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day….you have to be ok with that or you’ll just drive yourself to early white hair growth on your head and sleepless nights.
I have worked a total of 18-23 days at my “day job” since May of 2013. I am barely surviving. I am however working towards greater goals and have no regrets in leaving my well-paid union job(s). I do, however feel pressured everyday to use my time wisely. There is no one to tell me how to do that or at what times during the day I should be doing it. It’s tricky and there’s often little thought bubbles floating over my head saying, “No, we need to do this first!” or “Hurry, write that down and stick it on a post it before you forget.” So no, there are not enough hours in my day to balance all the things I need to get done to have my business get to the next step faster than I’d like it to. But, I do know I am a hard worker and I enjoy what I do and I see the bigger picture.
Life continues to happen around me and I can’t say no to it due to “needing more time spent on work-stuff”. Birthdays happen, brunch happens, friends move and need a hand packing…and you just have to do it and be ok with setting down the pen, hammer or laptop to help or enjoy because “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…”.
My way of finding balance is assuring that I have time for me, everyday. A schedule usually works; I go to the gym in the morning and I make sure I eat when I’m hungry (in the fashion-styling world you are lucky if you get your coffee in the morning) and I read a little at night to put work thoughts to rest. Everything else has to fit in where it can. I stay up late and sleep in later than the average “day-jobber” but, that’s the schedule that works for me right now. This is how I find my balance and feel OK with myself and my financial status, whatever it may be at the moment. After living on the road for almost 5 months, I realized that we are going to get there when we get there and things will fall into place exactly when they are meant to.
Happy work week!
American Drifter 