Balance Work and Home to Avoid Excess

It is fantastic to balance obligations at home and work by avoiding concentrating on either area to excess. Excess is commonly defined as an amount that is more than necessary, permitted, or desirable. It is not ideal to live in excess.   Balancing our obligations to home and to work is a balancing act. When I think of it I always think of a seesaw with the things I need to do for home on one side and the things I need to do for work on the other side. A reality is that many women work at home and outside the home. Increasingly women are working for others, but working from home.  In either case, if you are like me a woman who has obligations at home and in the workplace, it is sometimes hard to find the time to manage to get both done and to lead a balanced life.

Photo Credit: Janeane Davis, Balance Work and Home No Excess

I am a woman who works at home, and know  it is very easy to slip into working during all my waking hours. I like to work and enjoy the mental challenges of the work I do. At the same time, I have a wonderful husband and four terrific children, all of whom who want  my time and attention. This means that in order to keep my family happy and in order to continue getting paychecks, I must find a way to balance all I am obligated to do. In order to make it all work my favorite organizational and behavioral tool has become my calendar.  I have scheduled my personal and professional obligations on a calendar that I am able to access via my computer, the internet, my telephone and my tablet.

I have my family, my consulting business, a job with a social media advertising company, a new position helping someone with her social media outreach, partner with a business promoting a community of writers, and write this blog. There are a few balls I am keeping in the air. For this reason, I schedule everything according to how it fits into my schedule. I schedule everything from  laundry, to school work, to time on Facebook.  I have created a separate calendar or each area  of life and work and have color coded each area. This means when I look at my calendar I immediately see not only everything that is due, but in which area of life things are due.

By scheduling my life and adhering to the schedule, I am less likely to concentrate too much attention in an area in excess to the detriment of another area. I personally use Google calendar. I like it because it syncs easily with all my electronic products with ease. I use PCs and Android technology and am very happy with all the options and flexibility available to me. You should keep in mind that there are many calendar products that work in a similar manner and you should find one that works for you in your life.  I am not advocating a particular product. I am suggesting that you start living according to a calendar. Live in balance instead of excessive attention in one area at the expense of another area.

It really is fantastic to balance obligations at home and at work. So, the question for you this fantastic day is what is your trick for balancing obligations at home and at work?