Tag Archives: balance

Feb10

Work/Life Balance

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Work/Life Balance

Hello!! I don’t know about all of you, but I have been feeling So. Freaking. Exhausted. At the beginning of the new year, I formed a partnership with a local tech entrepreneur and have been putting in work. So much so, that I have been clocking in close to fifty hours every week between my jobs for the past month and change. It is tiring but the opportunities that have opened up for me are very exciting!

The work/life balance is something that everyone talks about. However, is it something that they are actively trying to pursue or does it just sound good? Lol, I definitely fall under the “think about it, but don’t do it” category and I know that this is something I need to change to avoid burnout. If you, too, struggle with making time for you amidst a busy schedule, you are not alone! In fact, you are in great company because I’m right there with you! Let’s explore some ideas we can all work on to achieve a better work/life balance:

Take Breaks:

During the work day, I try to allow myself a few five minute breaks throughout to get up, stretch, and hydrate. You can do whatever you see fit, though, to relax for a spell. Watch a funny YouTube video, read a few comic strips, grab a snack – whatever is clever. It is so easy to just keep on working even when our brain is literally telling us to take a pause for a couple of minutes. Remember, that the work you are completing when your mind is feeling mushy probably isn’t going to be something that you are fully satisfied with.

Make Meals:

I, personally, notice that I am not getting a proper work/life balance when I am not cooking meals for dinner. This was actually the first key indicator that I needed to slow down a bit when I saw that my fresh groceries were going to waste. Of course, no one is saying to cook a five star meal every night but I always feel better when I have something homemade for dinner. My goal is to at least make a few simple meals per week because I enjoy cooking as much as I do eating!

Make Plans (And Stick With Them!):

I’m going to be honest with all of you, the past several weeks of this workathon, I have had so many plans and I pretty much bailed on every single one. I was just too wiped out and canceling made me feel worse. This taught me that, for the time being, I need to make plans that I know I can stick with because anything more would be stretching myself too thin. However, we all need to give ourselves permission to have fun so don’t cut all evening activities out and fill your schedule with things you enjoy when you are able.

It’s Okay To Say No:

Always remember that it is okay to say no when you are feeling especially overrun. Knowing your limitations of what can and can’t be achieved in a certain time period will go a long way and can stop burnout in its tracks. I am such a people pleaser that I rarely say no to anything work related and I know that this is something that I really should improve on.

When a work/life balance seems impossible, carve out small periods for you throughout the day until you get back on track with a normal schedule. You will thank yourself during your next mini break!

What stresses you out about work? Do you achieve a good work/life balance? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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Sep15

5 Ways To Improve Your Self-Discipline

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5 Ways To Improve Your Self-Discipline

If you feel like your life hasn’t been going as well as it could, hen you might need to find some stability and discipline in your life. Here are some of the best ways to start making these improvements for a more fulfilling life:

Dedicate Yourself to a Team-Based Hobby:

Hobbies are an excellent way to get away from the stress of life. Although they won’t get rid of them, you can at least find some enjoyment and forget about your worries for a while. Anything that brings you joy is the best thing to do. Perhaps you love to paint, play video games, or play an instrument. But for more social balance and discipline, a team-based hobby helps you find stability. Working in a team, such as taking ballet classes or volleyball, you feel more responsibility because all members are required to perform well.

Find a Job You Enjoy:

Feeling fulfilled in one’s job and taking pride in accomplishments affects productivity and efficiency. You are more creative and resourceful when you love what you do. As a result, you will improve your overall well-being by increasing hormones such as serotonin and dopamine. Additionally, you will feel that you have worth at your job and are appreciated. This makes you work harder and more likely to go for promotions. Promotions and work enjoyment open more doors to more money and a balanced life.

Join a Gym:

Incorporating a work out or two during your weekly routine can do wonders for your physical and mental health. It’s great to fill your schedule with meaningful things and joining a gym is the perfect place to start. You can take classes, swim, work out on your own, or hire a trainer. All of this can help you achieve a high level of fitness and it’s exciting to see and feel your improvements. You also might meet some new friends!

Improve Your Work/Life Balance:

Finding a happy medium between work and personal life is crucial to your general well-being. Keeping a healthy work-life balance is essential for avoiding burnout and reducing stress at work. One of the most common health problems in the workplace is chronic stress. This causes severe illnesses like heart attacks and depression. Yet over 80% of people feel like they overwork and don’t spend enough time with their families. So, use your vacation days, don’t take work home with you, and always try to make some time for yourself.

Cut Out Toxic People from Your Life:

Sometimes we can be surrounded by people who are wrong for us at a specific point in time. Genuinely toxic people can deplete you emotionally and make you feel small. You may have noticed someone who does you no good. It can be a partner, family member, or so-called friend. Spending time with them drains your vitality rather than replenishes it. As a result, they have a major impact on your identity. They frequently result in feelings of depression and guilt so you must put yourself first by distancing yourself and setting rigid boundaries.

Stability and discipline are vital factors for a productive and happy life. Fill your schedule with activities you enjoy and set achievable goals. Then, watch yourself flourish!

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Apr13

How Does Your Diet Lead To Better Health?

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How Does Your Diet Lead To Better Health?

The human body is a fantastic machine with the ability to heal itself when given the correct type of nourishment. Unfortunately, as a society and individuals, we’re increasingly eating foods that aren’t in line with our body’s natural needs. We’re not getting the nourishment we need, which results in a weakened immune system, digestive problems, fatigue, and stress.

Here’s what you need to know to start working on improving your health right now:

What is a healthy diet?

We’re not talking about restrictive diets or eating like a rabbit. A healthy diet is all about eating foods in line with your body’s natural needs, which will help you feel more energized and happier. To get started on that journey, the best thing you can do is remove the bad stuff from your diet. What are the “bad” foods? Foods with high amounts of sugars, animal products, and processed foods.

Understanding Nutrients:

First and foremost, your diet needs to provide you with essential nutrients. These nutrients include protein, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin D, and magnesium, to name a few. If you’re not getting enough of these vitamins and minerals, it can lead to several problems in your body. Also, it’s essential to understand that every nutrient is necessary for your health in different ways. For example, while vitamin C is vital for immunity, magnesium helps with muscle function and tiredness.

Understanding Macros:

Macrobiotics is all about balance, which can often be defined as a state of harmony between opposing forces, such as yin and yang. It also promotes the consumption of whole grains and other plant based foods while limiting or eliminating meat, dairy, processed food, sugar, and salt.

It’s a great way to start understanding how your diet impacts your health because it’s based on the idea that everything in life is interconnected – plants, animals, and humans. For example, eating an animal product or processed food (which is low on the totem pole) might take away from what you can eat higher up on the totem pole, like plants. That could harm your health because it affects the balance in your body, which could leave you with more inflammation or disease.

Understanding macrobiotics will help you better understand balanced eating and help you work towards a healthier life. Talk to a consultant such as Denny Waxman to make sure you eat the right foods to improve your diet.

How to start improving your diet:

Before you can start improving your diet, you need to know what your diet currently looks like. The easiest way to do this is by keeping a food journal. A food journal is a notebook where you write down everything you eat and drink for at least two weeks. Once you’ve finished that, it’s time to make some changes.

1) Start by eliminating the worst offenders from your diet:

First, identify the most harmful foods in your diet: these are the ones that are high in sugar and processed ingredients.

2) Add more vegetables into your everyday meals:

The next step is to add more fresh vegetables to your daily meal plan. These vegetables should be colorful and rich in vitamins and minerals – so green leafy veggies like spinach, kale, broccoli, and zucchini are excellent options.

3) Drink enough water:

Finally, make sure you’re drinking enough water every day (aim for eight glasses). This will help flush out toxins from your system and keep things running smoothly inside of you.

After a couple of weeks of a more balanced diet, you will be amazed at how much better you feel. Use the tips above to help you get started today!

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Mar30

Essential Ingredients For Better Mental Health

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Essential Ingredients For Better Mental Health

If you want to have more rewarding days and higher levels of energy, then you must take good care of yourself. One piece of the puzzle as it relates to your wellness that can sometimes be overlooked is your mental health. However, it’s a vital component of your well being and can influence how you feel daily.

When you make sure you incorporate these essential ingredients for better mental health, then you can give yourself the opportunity to improve your life and mood. Implement the right habits and you’ll soon discover that you feel better and look forward to each new day:

A Good Night’s Sleep:

If you want to have better mental health, then you must get a good night’s sleep. Lack of sleep can make you feel sluggish and negatively impact your mood and attitude. Get enough sleep so that you wake up feeling refreshed and motivated to complete your to-do list. It’s not just about getting more sleep but also resting and taking breaks throughout the day to recharge as well. Get better quality sleep by configuring your bedroom for optimal rest and getting on a regular sleep schedule.

Drinking Sensibly:

Drinking alcohol can also alter your mood and energy levels. The effects of drinking are only temporary and may cause you more harm than good in the long term. If you continue to drink heavily, your habits may also turn into a substance abuse disorder that you’ll need to seek treatment for and address if you want to get better. Instead, find healthy ways to deal with stress such as going for walks, meditating, or journaling.

A Healthy Diet:

The foods you put in your body can impact your health and how you feel. Eat well to keep your brain nourished and your spirits lifted. There are also many foods that can help reduce anxiety and keep you feeling more level. Not getting enough of the right nutrients has even been linked to developing some forms of mental illness.

A Balanced Life:

Improve your mental health by leading a more balanced life. Working long hours and having no time for hobbies or fun can lead you down a dangerous path that might leave you feeling worn out and exhausted. It’s in your best interest to make time for leisure and work a job you enjoy. Don’t be afraid to turn down activities or say no to others when you feel stretched and would rather practice self care, instead.

Regular Physical Activity:

Another essential ingredient for better mental health is to get regular physical activity. Working out can not only be enjoyable but can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your stress. Mix up your routine so that you don’t get bored with exercise and can stick to it. Consistent exercise will not only improve your mood but can also reduce feelings of depression. You’ll also likely find that you sleep better at night when you exert yourself physically during the day.

Implementing some or all of the tips above can help get your mental health back on track for better days ahead!

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Oct25

How To Bring More Balance Into Your Life

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How To Bring More Balance Into Your Life

There is so much pressure on people nowadays to work hard, earn loads of money, and meet the accepted norms of what success means in today’s society; it is little wonder that many people feel stressed. Feeling stressed is a common state of mind for many people. The pressure to look great, be popular, and have lots of money can weigh heavily on people. This is often amplified by social media and the images that people see on TV and in the press. The good news, is that it is possible to minimize the stress that you experience in your life. Taking control of the situation can help you to bring balance back into your life and make you feel a lot better. Here are some of the ways that you can beat stress and improve your overall well being:

Regain Your Perspective:

If you are constantly comparing yourself to others, then it is time to stop. If scrolling through your social media makes you feel that everyone else’s life is perfect, then you are mistaken. Don’t forget that what you see on social media is simply the edited highlights of someone’s life. People very rarely post the whole truth on social media platforms. Minimizing the amount of time that you spend on social media can help. When you are online, remember to keep your perspective and remind yourself that people only share what they want the world to see.

Beat Stress and Anxiety:

Chronic stress can harm both your physical and mental well being so it is important to find ways to manage it. Many people find practicing mindfulness helpful in reducing their stress. Mindfulness is a tool which enables people to focus their attention on the present moment. This helps to stop the mind from getting caught up in unhelpful thoughts about the past and future.

Being under prolonged stress or pressure can make you feel anxious. Anxiety is a condition that can significantly impact your life. Everyone feels anxious from time to time, for example, before taking a test. However, chronic anxiety can leave you feeling anxious on a daily basis making everyday life much harder. Luckily, anxiety treatment is available to help you ease the feelings of anxiousness and provide you with help and support.

Take Care of Yourself:

If you are working hard and always rushing around, then chances are that you aren’t taking the best care of yourself. Stress and anxiety, coupled with long working hours, can take their toll on your well being. This makes it all the more important to practice self-care to regain balance in your life.

Try and get plenty of sleep so that your body has a chance to relax and recover. Getting enough sleep can also have a positive effect on your mood and help you to think more clearly. Make sure that you feed your body with the right fuel. Making healthy food choices will help nourish your body and mind and make you feel infinitely better.

Life is a balancing act and the tips above will help you find the right level to keep you happy and healthy.

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Apr3

Is Nutrition Just A Balancing Act?

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Is Nutrition Just A Balancing Act?

A lot of times when we read articles about nutrition or see a nutritionist terms such as “balanced” and “in moderation” show up. Yet, surely nutrition must be a little more complex than one big balancing act? Not necessarily. We as humans like to over complicate things due to our intelligent and ego driven brains when nutrition, like so many basic aspects of life, is a very simple equation.

You’ve probably heard of the saying “you are what you eat”. Indeed, this may have been drilled into you from an early age – but how much attention do you honestly pay to this principle? You don’t need GI doctors to tell you that all that sugar, saturated fat, and caffeine is bad for your health and well being. We all know that excessive sugar, fat, and salt are bad for our hearts and can cause Type II diabetes… yet, we keep on doing the same thing.

Rather than beat yourself up and make all sorts of rules about what you can and can’t eat, the best way to approach the great balancing act of nutrition is to picture a bank account. With a bank account there are deposits and withdrawals. The deposits nourish your bank balance while the withdrawals deplete it. If there are too many withdrawals, the account becomes overdrawn, and you end up in financial trouble.

Using this metaphor as a parallel for nutrition, it’s clear that deposits and withdrawals exist. As an example, drinking a vitamin filled smoothie could be considered a deposit because you are investing nutrients that are going to replenish and revitalize your body. Whereas eating a chocolate bar would be considered to be a withdrawal because it is not doing anything for you.

Making the occasional withdrawal is fine, as this way, there is still an equilibrium. If you are to withdraw more from this bank account nutritionally then you are putting in is when you run into problems. That’s when serious diseases start to occur. The word disease represents that your body is in a state of dis-ease; meaning it is out of balance.  No matter what your current condition of health is, the best way to ensure a long and healthy life is to keep your bank account in credit and balance the books!

Nutrition is important. And what is equally as important to what we put in our mouths, is how often and how intensely we move our bodies. Just a twenty minute walk at a moderate pace with some good music will do the trick to get you into the “aerobic zone”.  One of the most universal and all around forms of exercise that requires very little equipment, and is accessible for all, is swimming. It is easy on your body and it sure is fun.

The bank account of your health depends primarily on two things; the food you eat and the amount of exercise that you complete. Hopefully, this simple metaphor of the bank account will inspire you to make better day to day choices and keep on top of the balancing act that is nutrition.

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Feb24

4 Ingredients Of A Comfy Home

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4 Ingredients Of A Comfy Home

No matter what kind of home you live in or where, one of the essentials that everyone can agree on is that being comfortable is one of the most important things of all. The home, after all, should be a place where you can relax and unwind and you can only properly do that if it is comfortable for everyone who lives there. Achieving this kind of comfort, however, can often be surprisingly difficult to do – but with a little focus and some understanding of what is important, it is probably easier than you think. In this article, we are going to look at four of the main ingredients that you need for a comfier home:

Furniture: The furniture that you choose to have, particularly in any family or communal areas, is hugely important in keeping the home as comfortable as possible. It is definitely worth spending a good amount of time trying to find the best furniture possible. You might be surprised at how many considerations there are when it comes to choosing furniture. In general, you need to find items which are comfortable enough for everyone to rest in, but not so soft that they swallow you up. You also need to think carefully about their placement around the home. Placement affects the overall feeling of the home greatly, so take care on this front.

Your furniture should last you a long time if you take good care of it. Keep up to date on cleaning, dusting, and polishing and try to avoid eating or drinking on couches and armchairs. If you favor a leather armchair, consider an all-in-one leather care cream and it will continue to look as good as the day you brought it home!

Temperature: There is nothing worse than not being able to control the temperature in your home. It goes without saying that you want the ability to ensure that you are warm in the winter and cool in the summer – but even today, surprisingly few homes offer this ability. If you are keen to introduce this into your home in a big way, then using something like fujitsu heat pumps might be the best solution for you. With heat pumps, you can ensure that your home is just the right temperature at all times – something which is very important in keeping cozy at any time of year.

Light: Although it is not often considered in this respect, light does have a part to play in keeping you comfortable in your own home. If the light levels are too much or too little, it can lead to a feeling of restlessness – and that is not what you want when you are trying to relax in your home in the evening. Make sure that you are able to control the lighting in your home as much as possible. The best solution here is probably to use dimmer switches, as these give you the fullest possible control out of anything else on the market.

comfy1

One single bulb is not the best bet, though!

Space: Just as important, of course, is how the space is set out in your home. You need enough space to be able to have personal space around everybody, but you don’t want so much that the home no longer feels inviting or cozy. Achieving this balance is difficult and takes some time, but it is well worth it once you find it.

comfy2

Love that staircase!

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Jan9

5 Easy Ways To Balance Your Decor

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5 Easy Ways To Balance Your Decor

Decorating your home can be hard. Not only does it tend to be costly (even if you’re thrifty), it can be hard to coordinate. Whether you’re redesigning each room from scratch, or adding to what you have, bit by bit, ensuring that your decor is balanced and just works can feel like an impossible task. Impossible, but doable.

Whether you choose to hire an interior designer, follow the principles of feng shui design or research, try and buy, you might need to work on balancing out a few areas of your decor. If you’re tackling the task alone, these points should act as a starting guide for you to work from.

Color: Color can often be a safe starting point when it comes to your decor. You should be able to see straight away whether colors will work well together, or whether the entire look and feel of the room will be thrown off. But, some colors can be tricky. When that’s the case, hunt down interesting color palettes on Pinterest and see which ones most appeal to you. You’ll also be learning as you look, and will start to see how to match colors that balance well together.

Space: Another way to work on the balance of your decor is to use the space. If you’re working with a small room, you’re going to need to be smart. You’re not going to want to cram a lot of big furniture into the room, as it will look overcrowded. Instead, you’re going to want to opt for space saving storage ideas and lots of bright, fresh, airy colors. When you’ve got a larger room, you might need to be a bit more generous with the furniture and accessorizing. Otherwise, it will be out of balance and look quite bare.

Fabric: Your soft furnishings can also say a lot about a space. You might not think that the rugs, throws, cushions, and curtains that you add into the room make a lot of difference right now. But, if you get the combination wrong and the room is off balance, you’ll soon see it. When you pick fabrics, you need to choose ones that coordinate well. It’s pretty similar to the color situation – if you choose something that doesn’t work well together, then you’re often left with a lot of loud clashing and a bit of a headache.

Pattern: Many people can be afraid of playing around with patterns. And while that is a safe bet to take, you can actually create an incredibly well-designed and daring home with different patterns. But, you still have to make sure that they balance. When patterns clash, it can be chaotic. So, you need to make sure that you use them tastefully and sparingly, to create the desired effect. Try finding patterns with similar colors in them so that they blend rather than compete against each other.

Design: Then, there’s the overarching design itself. You can often be swayed by different interior design trends. But, if you opt for something new and different, rather than sticking to a style that you know you’ll always love, the space may not feel right. It’s important that you choose a style that you feel comfortable with, as you’ll then be able to make it balance with the accents and accessories that you add in.

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