Balance Yourself First

The one downside to having a job you really, truly and passionately love is that you want to do it a lot- like- all the time a lot. We call it an occupational hazard around our offices but it's sort of not the whole point of our business, the whole work-life balance piece.

But we've discovered over the last nearly 5 years is that everyone has a very different definition of balance. And because kids and life change so darned fast, what you need this year in terms of balance and schedule flexibility is not likely what you'll need next year. Your work and your life should fit your personal goals for balance.

Knowing that there really never is a perfect "balance," a moment in time where you have just the right amount of work and just the right amount of life, how the heck do you get off the hamster wheel and start enjoying more of both?

A good place to start is Annie McKee's article in today's Huffington Post, Balance Yourself, Not Work and Life. Although Ms. McKee cites a lot of grim statistics about the effects of "power stress" on our economy and lives, she gives a lot of great examples on bringing a little more balance inward. She acknowledges that it's not realistic to hit a yoga class before work, but that you can create mindfulness by taking just a few moments every day to breathe, take in nature and focus on hopefulness and gratitude.