How To Live A Balanced Lifestyle

Nowadays with busy work schedules, overtime work, deadlines, further/extra studies, kids, rising petrol prices, inflation, social obligations, house chores, mortgage repayments, etc, it is getting harder and harder for many people to stay healthy, stress-free and happy. Many of us end up disregarding our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing just to ensure we stay on top of things (or so we think) and that the bills are paid for, our project deadlines are met, our kids go to private schools, etc.

What many people fail to consider is: What is the point of doing all of this if you’re not going to enjoy and live a happy life?

Living a balanced lifestyle is the key to ensuring that you can have time for yourself, your work, your friends, your family and time to enjoy life and the people and things around you. Admittedly, achieving one is easier said than to be done. But if you are discipline and really try to challenge yourself, you will get there and you would never want to look back.

To help you along your journey, I have listed out some simple tips and ways to go about balancing your life, work and commitments.


1. Indulge in yourself

By indulging and taking care of yourself, this can significantly reduce your stress levels and clear your mind so that you’re in a better frame of mind to tackle any issues, problems and unexpected challenges that pop up along the way. Reduction of stress is important as high levels of stress have been shown to significantly impact negatively on one’s mental and emotional health. Hence, as part of a balanced lifestyle, activities that are stress-reducing are important and I have listed out a few ideas to get you started.

• If you have the money and time, go for a massage or spa to pamper yourself. There is nothing better than having a professional masseuse nut out all the knots on your back and shoulders. You will feel energized and rejuvenated after an hour’s long indulgence.


• Get up slightly earlier in the morning and take your time to use the bathroom, brush your hair, stretch and apply your make up (if you use make up) before everyone else wakes up. The few extra minutes of quietness in the morning can be extremely therapeutic and relaxing before the day really begins.


• Savor your breakfast and cup of coffee/tea. If you don’t normally have breakfast, this should be the very first thing you change. Eating breakfast is extremely important as it has health and energy benefits and can help increase concentration and assist in weight loss. So in the morning when you’re eating your food, chew slowly on it, sip your coffee and really appreciate the taste and aroma. Sometimes, it is the simple pleasures in life that can really make the long day ahead seem much more manageable.


• If you’re time-constrained and your hobbies include things like running, playing angry birds on your iphone, going for a walk, reading a good book, listening to music, knitting, making craft, etc. Do this during your lunch break. If you have something due soon but you feel your brain is fried, take that break (even if it is just for half and hour) and engage in an activity you love. It will give your brain a chance to relax and re-energise so that by the time you hit your work desk again, you would be in a more optimum and efficient mindset to tackle your work.


• If you absolutely cannot afford to take a 30 min break, lean back on your chair, close your eyes and zone out for 5 †10 mins. Daydream about positive things such as the amazing dinner you’re going to be having tonight, the dinner you have scheduled to see your best friend or the weekend coming up. Think happy thoughts and when you open your eyes, straighten your posture, smile and get back to work. You will be surprise at how simple things can really boost your energy, approach and motivation.

• Ensure that your home is always stocked with ready to eat fruits and vegetables so you can quickly grab them as you head out of your house to begin your day


• Plan ahead so you always know roughly what you’re going to be eating for your meals. This reduces the chance of you wanting to have take-away food and unhealthy home deliveries.


• During your afternoon tea break/5 min break from your work, google some healthy, easy to make recipes. There are a million of recipes out there and looking and the pictures will guarantee not only to relax you, but to also get you pumped and excited to try out your new dish at dinner tonight.


• 3 meals a day. Especially breakfast. Enough said.


• Eat in moderation. And this does mean enjoying the occasional cake, KFC meal, Big Mac or pizza delivery when you feel that you have been treating your body right for the majority of the time! Remember, we are not going on a diet; we are aiming to have a lifestyle change which means no strict diets or regime. Just honest good ways to live a little healthier and enjoy a more balanced and healthy lifestyle.


• Don’t follow the crowd: If your workmates or friends around you love to eat fried foods, take-away and unhealthy meals, you don’t have to follow them! Recognise that you can be healthier than the people around you and enjoy looking after yourself.

• Be forward thinking and organized
  Plan and think ahead at the start of each week to assess what events are coming up. Make sure you dedicate adequate time to finishing up your work and assign quality time for yourself; this includes scheduling time for exercise, social events and â€Me-timeâ€. A good trick to do is to overestimate the amount of time you need to complete a task (ie. if you realistically think it will take 3 hours to finish a report, estimate that it will take 4 hours instead), this will ensure you have more than enough time to deliver high quality work, spend high quality time with your friends and yourself. If the task/event took lesser time than budgeted, you now have some extra spare time that you can use to either start on the next task, have a break, or catch up with your friends!


• Expect the unexpected and the worst case scenario
  Things unfortunately do not always go according to plan, and when this happens, many of us end up stressing over it and start doing things that may not be healthy to your body and mental well-being. By expecting the worst case scenario, you can actively take steps to ensure that that scenario doesn’t take place or that you have a Plan B ready should anything go wrong. This is also another reason why overestimating the amount of time you need to complete a task is very useful as it provides you with a time buffer to fix anything should things not work out the way you planned.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

# of Ratings = 1 | Rating = 5.0/5