Life’s hard, man. So much to do, so little time to do it. It feels like every day is going quicker and quicker, each year is getting shorter and shorter, and you’re only getting older and older.
It’s pretty scary, tbh.
So, it’s super important as you get older to make sure you’re living your life to the fullest. I know it’s cringe, but you’ll be 40 in the blink of an eye… Do you want to be reminiscing on all the fun you had over the years, or do you want to be wishing you actually had fun?
Too much work or uni could mean you miss out on years of travel, experience and joy. But, too much fun could mean you have to work harder later in life to catch up to the life you want to maintain.
That’s why it’s crucial that you figure out the perfect work/life balance as soon as possible. This way you can make sure you’re moving forward professionally, whilst also having a tonne of fun with friends and family.
The perfect balance is extremely hard to find, and many will never get there, but, just the act of reading this post in itself puts you in a better position than heaps of others that are at a similar stage in life.
Table of Contents
Figuring Out ‘Who You Are’ and ‘What You Need’
The first and most important step in finding a balance is to think about and decide on your values.
You have to figure out exactly what you want from life, whether it be personal fulfilment, professional development, meaningful relationships with others, wealth and excess, spiritual enlightenment, a life of travel, etc. The goal here is to figure out what gives you happiness.
Write these values down and then move onto step two…
Step two is all about figuring out how much of each aspect you need to reach that desired level of happiness. Everyone finds joy from different things and in different ways. Your job now is to reflect on your past and decide where your happiness really comes from.
Think about how you’ve spent your time, where you’ve been most happy, what accomplishments have made you most proud and how you got to where you are now.
I know this stuff’s hard. I hate to think about myself and what makes me happy because it truly is so damn difficult to put into words.
But, this is why so many people can’t find the right balance! Like anything, self-reflection takes practice. It isn’t meant to be super easy the first time, but it definitely gets easier and feels more natural with practice.
Okay, now step 3. Take those values and their weighting, and categorise them into one of these four options:
- Work – You’ll find this happiness through paid work.
- Study – The values that drive you to continually learn and improve.
- Life – These relate to relationships and personal fulfilment.
- Travel – The happiness you get through experiences away from home.
Work
The happiness you find through paid work is often the most overlooked value for many people. It’s not uncommon to find no happiness through paid work, but the fact is, you need money to survive.
With that in mind, it’s important that you really reflect on and learn from your positive experiences at work to decide exactly what brings you joy.
For me, the idea of helping others is something that I truly value and work is certainly a place that helps me obtain that happiness.
If you hate your job, maybe it’s time for a new one. Maybe the value that you find in your work life is something that can’t be found in your current role. If so, it may be worth searching for something that better fits what you’re passionate about.
The main goal within this category is to figure out which aspects of work you find fulfilling and then determine which specific role will help you achieve that fulfilment.
We all have to work, so it’s important to find work that will at least help us improve our happiness, even if it’s on the most basic level.
Study
These values should be slightly less forced, but still reasonably basic. It’s rare that you find complete happiness through your studies (not unheard of, but rare) and so it’s important to reflect on which areas of study you find most fulfilling.
These are the areas that you’ll want to focus on when finding that balance.
For me, I strive for self-improvement through my studies. I also aspire to be the best within my chosen discipline. These two values are totally attainable through study and as such, I put a lot of emphasis on those areas in my daily study life.
For some, this category will be quite minimal (those of you that are much happier without a degree, working a job that pays the bills so you have more time to do other things), and that’s so okay!
For many, the study category will make up a significant portion of your work/life balance, but, it’s important that you don’t overload this area and burn out because of it.
Life
The life category relates to the personal values you have around friends, family, faith and fun.
This section will probably make up a large portion of your everyday life. And, if it doesn’t, but you have multiple values in this category, then our aim is to change things so that it does!
For values in this area, think about which aspects of your life you find most fulfilling. Which friendships and family members could you never live without? Do you play sport? What do you do in your spare time?
This is the happiness that’ll feel the deepest. The core parts of your life that you couldn’t do without.
For me, I really love my relationship with my parents and siblings, as well as my relationship with my girlfriend and my small circle of close friends. I also love playing soccer and surfing. Because of that, I make sure I put a lot of time and energy into those areas.
Travel
Travel is a category that most Gen Z’ers will think of quite highly, and for good reason. For those of you that don’t, it’s time to travel a bit…
The values that lie in this area will probably relate to experiences and personal happiness.
Travel provides a very different type of fulfilment to the other three categories. Values here are much harder to put into words and will usually take a lot more effort to obtain.
The happiness you find in travel is most appreciated when the experiences are separated by mediocrity.
What I mean is, it would be silly to spend all of your time travelling because then you wouldn’t appreciate the freedom it brings. On the other hand, it would be silly to spend your time not travelling because then you would never reach that aspect of happiness.
For me, travel is a huge part of my life. It gives me an escape from the stresses of everyday life, it allows me to admire the natural beauty of the world and it provides memories that I’ll hold onto for many years.
The goal with values in this category is to accept that you won’t be hitting that happiness every day, but rather on special occasions so that the experience itself is better appreciated.
Creating the Balance
Before diving into the last step, let’s take a look at what you’ve done so far:
- You thought about and wrote down your values.
- Next, you figured out how much of each value you require for optimal happiness.
- Then, you separated those values into one of four categories:
- Work
- Study
- Life
- Travel
- And lastly, you reflected on each of those categories and thought about why each value belongs there.
Now we reach the fun part. You’re going to literally create the balance between the categories…
You can do this in your head if you’re lazy, but I recommend following along on a spreadsheet or piece of paper.
Here’s what you’re going to do:
- Take your weekly schedule and break each day down into the must-do activities, want-to-do activities, and one-off activities.
- Then, get rid of the want-to-do and one-off activities.
- Now for the hard part, decide how much of each category you need as a portion of 100%.
- For example, I needed around 20% work to pay for my lifestyle, 25% study to get my degree and grow personally, 35% life to focus on my relationships, and 20% travel to explore places I’ve never been.
- Based on those portions, you’re going to assign your want-to and one-off activities to suit that balance.
- Those percentages are your ideal balance, so try to separate each week according to that.
Your weekly schedule is going to be super different to mine! Obviously. I mean, we have different lives… But, for reference here’s mine:
Well done on visualising and actually creating your perfect work/life balance. Stick to the calendar as best you can, but remember that every week will be different and that’s okay!
Final Word
And there you have it, your guide to the work/life balance that allows you to make the most of every day while you’re still young.
Life might get a bit hectic sometimes, and some categories will change in their value to you. It’s important to remember where your happiness comes from and strive to obtain that all-rounded fulfilment each week.
Good luck with creating your own, if you have any questions don’t be afraid to hit us up in the comments, or shoot us an email!
Always,
Uncle N.