The world is your lobster (Part 5): Balance

This is going to be one of those posts that, as I write, I feel like a little bit of a hypocrite. One of those posts in which I believe what I'm telling you and know the theory, but when it comes to the practise, I'm not quite there yet. I'm better than I used to be, but I have a long way to go...

So, how do you find that balance? How do you stop yourself from being worked into the ground? Is there a correct amount of work?

When I first came to New Zealand, I started working straight away, and I didn't stop. I was working 8-5, 5 days a week. 2 nights during the week, I would continue work at rugby training and then, every Saturday, would spend most of the day working at a rugby match. For a few weeks of the year, I would work with 2 rugby teams, meaning 4 nights of training per week plus Saturday games. And I was exhausted. I had no physical energy left, let alone mental or emotional energy, so, when it came to spending time with people, going to church, writing, doing anything other than work, I had nothing left to give.

Three years into that pattern, I realised that something had to be done. I couldn't carry on as I was. So, I decided to cut out a day of work. Since that time, I have worked 4 days instead of 5, and I may not be there yet, but it's a start. Having that day gives me time to think, time to breathe, time to exercise, time to go to the post office, time to spend with the people I want to spend time with, time to write.

That was part of the solution for me, but your solution (if you need one), may look very different. I think the first step is looking at why we get so busy. One person's reasons will not be the same as the next, but ask yourself these questions: is work an escape - a way to run away and hide from life? Do you secretly praise yourself for your busyness? If you had no job to go to tomorrow (and money wasn't an issue), what would scare you most? Does your work define who you are in an unhealthy way? What is important to you in life? Does your work allow you to honour those things?

The answers to these questions might give you a hint as to whether something needs to change and what that something is. But, don't leave it till it's too late: till you're on medication to control your stress, till you have no close friends, till you have no hobbies, till your work has defined you so much that you don't know who you are. Don't keep on going until you're forced to stop.

Find your balance.

It may be one of the most important things you do.