21 Ways To Balance Your Life

We feel pressurised to have it all - house, home, career, family. But individuals and couples need to look at these demands for themselves. You may think you have no choice - but you do if you have the courage to make that choice, or tweak your lifestyle to get the most out of it for yourself.

Work

• 1. Change job. Research shows that unfair and unreasonable bosses raise the blood pressure of their employees. Being exposed to such bosses in the long term increases your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
• 2. Make a list. If things are getting on top of you at work, use this approach: Do it. Delay it. Delegate it. Or dump it. Make a reasonable list each evening of tasks you want to achieve the next day. Stick to it, and enjoy the sense of achievement that comes from ticking off jobs done.
• 3. Who comes first? If you're a working parent, ask yourself if you want your job or your children to come first most of the time. Your answer will help you structure your time because it's not possible to do it all.
• 4. Work it out. If you could work because you want to, not because you have to, what would you choose to do? Think about it. Then try to make it happen.
• 5. Watch your mouth. Talk nicely to yourself. Lose that inner critic who tells you that you compare badly to others at work and reminds you of your failures. Focus on your strengths.
• 6. Re-arrange your working life. Either job share or work three-four days a week. That way, you cut down on commuting times and costs associated with petrol and wear-and-tear on your car, lunches and takeaways.
• 7. Leave work at work. Have cut-off times for particular tasks and stick to them. Only check your emails once/twice a day. Take your phone off the hook and give yourself 15-20 minutes to ring/email everyone back.

Home

• 8. Meet friends or family for coffee. One Swedish study found that men with a wide circle of friends were half as likely to develop heart disease as those without. Talking over work or domestic issues also gives you a sense of perspective and helps you face your problems with renewed energy.
• 9. Treat yourself to a massage. Dating back to 2500BC, massage helps to alleviate stress and anxiety, reduces high blood pressure and general fatigue and helps build up the body's immune system. Or take up yoga, which will help release stress and stored-up tension.
• 10. Boost your sex life and your immune system in one go. Oysters contain zinc, which helps keep your immune system healthy and fight off infections. And they're an aphrodisiac, which should keep your relationship ticking over.
• 11. Create an image of what you want. Not what you want to get rid of. If you say, "I want to stop fighting with my partner," then you're thinking about anger and fighting. Turn it around and say, "I want to show my partner I love him."
• 12. Sleep well. Scientists at the University of Sydney believe that just one sleepless night has the same effect on co-ordination, reaction time and judgment the next day as consuming the legal limit of alcohol.
• 13. Women need to work out their roles. Mother, career woman, friend, daughter, wife - you need to work out your obligations. If your children are the most important thing to you, recognise that role and plan how you can spend more time with them.
• 14. Quit fussing. Some women feel tied by housework and guilty about not satisfying everybody. Either forget about the housework, accept that the messy kitchen can wait, or hire a cleaner. Fussing about housework is a choice you make.

Play

• 15. Get walking. If you're unfit, you're twice as likely to die from a heart attack. The Irish Heart Foundation recommends that you get in 30 minutes of activity most days. It will help keep obesity, diabetes and stress at bay.
• 16. Volunteer. One UK study showed that people who participate in voluntary organisations think their overall health and fitness has improved. Money doesn't compensate for human contact, attention, caring, connection or passion about ideas and campaigns.
• 17. Learn to say 'No' to your gym instructor or team captain. If you're feeling injured or stressed because of too many matches, skip a match and rest your body. A lot of injuries arise because of poor training and recur because of lack of healing time.
• 18. "The secret of success is constancy to purpose." So said British PM Benjamin Disraeli way back in 1872. So, whether it's trying to reduce your golf handicap or trying to walk more, stick with it. Success will be yours, with a knock-on positive effect on your confidence.
• 19. Take up a hobby. In the last few years, people have forgotten about their hobbies. Pick one up again and get back to your creative space.
• 20. Book a babysitter. It sounds simple, but the arrival of children is often the death-knell for a couple's social life. It's vital to leave the four walls of your house behind, go out and reconnect with your partner. Talk, walk, go to the cinema, the park, get back to talking about your hopes and dreams, not the washing-up and kids' homework.
• 21. Step outside the box. Try something new, whether it's skateboarding, salsa dancing or creative writing. Doing something new helps you redefine your capabilities and wakes you up to the zillions of things out there you shy away from. And each new achievement gives you a nudge of encouragement to do another new thing.

Disclaimer

This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice or for the care that you receive from your doctor or other health professionals. If you are concerned about your health you should consult your doctor.

This information has been reproduced with kind permission of Zahra Publishing, publishers of Easy Health. www.easyhealth.ie