by Natalie Rothstein

Finding a balance between work and personal life can be a challenge for many, but this is such an important balance to strike in order to promote wellness. On top of finding balance between the two, there is also the importance of finding balance within both of those areas. Making sure within those areas that you are finding a balance to give yourself room to take care of yourself is incredibly valuable. This can often be a challenge during busier times of the year.

Summer time is an exciting and wonderful season that brings opportunities to do many things that aren’t as accessible during other months of the year, particularly if you live in a place that gets cold weather in the winter months. You can go to the beach, have a campfire, go for a run, have a picnic, go to outdoor concerts… and don’t forget all of the events different cities put on such as street festivals. At times, all of the excitement of summer can become overwhelming because it might feel like there’s not enough time to do everything that you want to do. A pressure can set it to take advantage of all of the exciting things to do.

Summer is often a season where more special events happen and people want to make more social plans. All of this is a great way to feel more social and active, which is a good way to bring happiness and joy to one’s life, however, sometimes all of the different plans and things to do can become exhausting and difficult to manage while also being sure to take care of yourself. It is helpful to work towards balance when managing plans during busier seasons, those commonly being the summer and holiday seasons. During those times, it’s essential to remember the importance of taking care of ourselves and to continue to implement our self care practices.

Below are some tips that can be helpful when working to strike a balance between work, social events, and also making sure your personal needs for care are met.

Prioritize what is most important, rather than trying to do multiple things without enough time.

There are so many different things to do during particularly high season times. So many fun and new events come up during the summer or holiday season. In addition to that, many people have celebrations and special social plans during these times. When all of these different opportunities come up, it’s helpful to prioritize which are the most important to you. Maybe there’s a street festival you really wanted to go to on the same night as a friend’s party, rather than trying to do both – consider finding another street festival that will happen at a later date and putting that down on your calendar.

Balance how you use your energy.

Devoting too much energy to one area of your life can create a feeling of imbalance and burnout in that one area. It is important to your wellness to find work life balance. That means making sure you find time to devote to your personal life outside of your work life and visa versa.

Plan ahead.

Making plans ahead of time and scheduling them on your calendar can help with prioritizing plans and can help give space to be able to do all of the different things you’d like to do. This way you can devote the times for specific events you want to do to those things, to make sure you are able to do them, and then schedule less time specific plans at other times.

Keep track of your plans.

Having a calendar where you mark down all of your plans, is an excellent way to keep track of what you have going on. This can help so that you don’t have to remember everything you have coming up in your mind – and can help prevent running into over scheduling.

Plan for down time.

Downtime can be so valuable during busy times to help your body rest and recharge. Our bodies and our minds need that! When our schedules can have us constantly on the go, finding time to relax and not have to go to something is truly important self care to help balance. However, this time often gets neglected during busier periods. Scheduling downtime in on your calendar can help yourself stay accountable to making that kind of time for yourself!

Finding the balance in our lives between work, other obligations and taking care of ourselves can definitely be a challenge. But putting extra thought and planning into that process can make a huge difference. By doing so, we are able to make sure we find time for ourselves and are able to accomplish all of our work, personal and social plans. This process can be a trial and error of figuring out what works, but with patience and thoughtfulness it is definitely possible to find a balance that works best for your wellness!

Originally posted on Urbanbalance.com