Good old, Monday morning. Nothing like a 5am wake-up to have a perfect start to the week. You’re out of bed early, make yourself a cup of coffee, and get a feel-good workout in, all before the sun rises. You pack your delicious and nutritious lunch, kiss your significant other good-bye, and you’re off to work. Life’s good isn’t it? Except for the fact that it’s NEVER ACTUALLY LIKE THAT!!!

If you’re reading this post, chances are, you’re trying real mother effing hard to balance everything. Maybe you’re a college student trying to balance your tinder game with finals, a new grad figuring out whether you should still be partying on Thursday nights, or a young mama trying to understand how on earth you’re going to get a shower in before writing 3 new posts for your mommy blog this week — all whilst breastfeeding. Whatever stage or age you’re at in life – you’ve come to the right place. Truth is, the world of “girl, you can do it all! #girlboss #bossbabe #iamlifegoals” is far too glamorized. Things are NOT as easy as the world of social media makes it out to be. The work-life balance game is a struggle, but fear not – you can do it!

MANAGING EVERYTHING: The Precursor to it all

Before we get into things, let’s get to a few house-keeping items:

1. For the purposes of this article – “work”, refers to what your work is. Whether you’re a nurse, working corporate life 9-5, a new mom, or a freshman in college, you define what work means to you.
2. Let’s think of this as a live self development session hosted by Oprah (jk – but a girl can dream, right?!). Every so often I’ll flag a *Think About It* note. Take some time to reflect on your day-to-day and how that point relates to you.
3. Excuse the occasional but well-placed swear words. You know how sometimes when you write a sentence, it feels like something’s missing? Often, it’s the unexpected-but-so-expected curse word that just makes that line way more f*cking effective. (I know you know exactly what I mean). Don’t fret – it’s for dramatization purposes only.

So, you want to learn how you can balance everything, and do it all, right? Well, behind the magic formula lies two major factors that can’t be missed:

1. Time Management, and
2. Priority (and / or) Priorities 

But, before you start reading, check out this short video on why you need the 1-minute productivity rule in your life. 

MANAGING EVERYTHING: Manage your time, with time management

First things first, if you want to manage everything, you best believe you better thoughtfully manage the scarcest resource you have. Your time. We all have 24 hours in a day. Within those 24 hours, our work, or “committed” responsibilities will differ from person to person. i.e. Person A might be working 2 jobs, and a 15-hour day, and Person B, might be a college student with 4 hours of class, 3 hours of group work, and 2 hours of assignments. Your first step is to understand how much “committed” time you have, versus how much “free time” you have.

Just a disclaimer, it’s SO important to take some time reflecting on what your committed time entails.

*Think about it*Are you intentionally committing that time to something you’re striving to achieve because it’s what you want? Or are you literally wasting your scarcest resource on something that brings you no value?

Once you’ve determined what your free time is, write down how many hours in a day you actually have.

MANAGING EVERYTHING: So…what are your priorities?

The notion of “managing everything” will differ based on who you are and what you want. I may think of managing everything as: working full-time, spending time with loved ones, doing my hair and make-up, and living a healthy lifestyle. Someone else may think of managing everything as keeping a tidy and clean home, socializing with friends, and getting 8 hours sleep.

There’s no doubt that there should be some core universal priorities to live a balanced and healthy life – i.e. eating healthy and having an active lifestyle, taking care of your mental health, getting adequate sleep (at least 7+ hours) and spending time with loved ones.

The rest, may be more subjective.

*Think about it* Reflect on what your top 3-5 priorities (or single priority) is. What do you want to incorporate in your life day-to-day? What are your long term goals?

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MANAGING EVERYTHING: Back to time management

By now, you’ve got a list of priorities, and roughly how much free time you have per day. It may sound a bit too scientific, but allocate how much time you want to spend on each priority a day / week and make a rough schedule. You’ll need to juggle with times to make it all fit. So whether that means less sleep or shortening your workout to get some extra time in for your side hustle, you have to put some structure around it.

Things don’t always go to plan – and you have to be so conscious and aware of that. A flexible mindset is key, but create a plan that works for you. Be ready to pivot as things come up, but part of managing everything and / or achieving your goals requires you to put some plan on paper. Manage your time effectively, efficiently, and smartly, and it won’t take long before you’re able to balance it all. Being productive is so key to managing everything.

MANAGING EVERYTHING: A day in my life

And to make things more real, I want to give you a little insight into my attempt at managing everything.

I work a full-time job at a corporate financial services firm, Monday-Friday 9-5. Including the commute, my committed time is roughly 50 hours a week, or 10 hours a day during the work week. Beyond work, I’ve got a ton of other hobbies, goals, and interests – aka priorities – that take up my free time. My top priorities in no particular order are: eating healthy (3x a day plus snacks), going to the gym at least 4-5 times a week, creating stellar content (shameless plug) on The WERK LIFE, spending time with loved ones, learning / developing, and keeping a tidy *enough* household. #whoaisme – am I right???

Sounds like a lot, but truth is – it’s not as hard as it may seem. Though it’s taken me a while (and I’m still working at it) to balance it all, I’ve got some aspects down to a science. I have ALWAYS been someone that sleeps in late, until a few years ago. Nowadays, I try to be up at least 3 hours before my work day begins, just to get some personal time in. 

A typical day may look like this:

• 5:30 – 6:30am – up and at ’em
• 6:30 – 7:00am – still waking up, aka catching up on emails, a brief social media check, what’s happening in the world, and breakfast + tea time
• 7:00 – 8:00am – Get ready, and off to work
• 8:00 – 8:30am – Commute – listen to music or a podcast
• 8:30 – 5:00pm – At work
• 5:00 – 5:30pm – Commute home – listen to music or a podcast
• 5:30 – 7:00pm – Gym Life
• 7:00 – 8:00pm – Dinner & chill with fiance / loved ones
• 8:00 – 9:30pm – The WERK LIFE 
• 9:30 – 10:00pm – Clean / tidy up and get ready for bed
• 10:00pm – Bedtime, baby!

MANAGING EVERYTHING: Make it happen, girl!

A quick disclaimer: the reason I’m able to manage most things on a good day, is because I spend my Sunday’s getting me FULLY PREPARED for the week ahead. This saves me a ton of time (thanks to meal prep, planning, and more) – and makes for a much easier week. Definitely check out how I make the most of my Sunday’s here!

All that being said, I find a way to fit in my main priorities with thoughtful planning ahead of time, and doing “the best that I can”. For example – I would LOVE a world where I could spend 2+ hours at the gym everyday. Getting my weight training in, spending 30 mins stretching, and more. Reality is – that’s just not doable. I have to do what I can in that specific time frame (i.e. a quick and efficient workout), or other priorities will get bumped. You have to know when to stop and start, and that’s key to managing everything.

Another example – I love having a clean home, but there’s nooo way I could do an intense deep clean every single day. Vacuuming, mopping, and more are usually left for the weekends, but I’ll always ensure the dishes are done and the counter is clean before I go to bed each night. To me, waking up to a clean home is literally the best way to wake up.

We have to make due with the time we have, and there’s no better way to manage everything than having fun at the same time. Be sure to take care of yourself and your mental health by giving yourself a break every so often. If anyone can do it, it’s you. Time for you to MAKE IT HAPPEN!

And there you have it! Leave a comment below to share your tips on how you manage everything! Happy balancing 🙂