We’ve entered a crunch time period of the year, where the lazy days of summer are behind us, and the prospect of only a few months left in the year looms. This can make us feel overwhelmed very quickly, and when we are overwhelmed – when we get stressed – we take it out on those around us.
If our work life is stressful, we take it home and create more problems. If our home life is struggling, we bring that to work and can’t get anything done. The answer to these problems we ALL have is a little word called balance. With the Sun in Cardinal Air Sign Libra, there’s no better time of the year to launch the magic of work-life balance. That’s exactly what we are talking about today!
What is a Work-Life Balance?
One of the biggest reasons many of us do NOT have work-life balance is because we overthink it. It seems like something so elusive. Let’s bust one myth of the work-life balance mantra – it doesn’t mean equal parts of everything.
You can’t adjust your schedule and your life to include equal parts play, equal parts romance, equal parts kids, equal parts work. No. That is not a work-life balance. A work-life balance is about making it all work together, so that you have a little bit of everything in your life.
Second, the work-life balance is about just that, balance. Libra is the Cardinal Sign of the Air Signs and symbolized by Justice in the Tarot. It’s all about having impartiality, harmony, and balance in every matter in life. Learn to have your scales optimized like Libra does.
You’re not going to have the same schedule every day and same amount of work-life balance every day, unless you’re a Fixed Sign. They are the most likely to have a fixed schedule, but even they know how to keep things balanced. The Mutable Signs are great at balance, because they are flexible. Sometimes for them too much of one part throws the entire equation off.
There is no “perfect” formula for the work-life balance. You just have to find the mix that works for you. Here are a few basic tips you can start trying today.
1. When you shut down, actually shut down.
A lot of times we fall short of obtaining work-life balance because our minds are always spinning. We shut down the computer for the day, but the whole commute home we are thinking of that one thing we didn’t get done right, or that one email we didn’t send, or what have you.
The first thing we do when that happens, when we walk in the door is to run to the computer or phone and handle it. It starts off as one thing, then two hours later we are starving, tired, and cranky and feeling overworked. That’s because you ARE overworked, and you did that yourself. If it’s not urgent, leave work commitments to tomorrow when you have called it quits for the day.
2. A little goes a long way.
Many of us have grandiose delusions of perfection in our heads when we think work-life balance. People think it means we need to exercise hours a week, cut out all fats, be a super star at work, and in the bedroom too. Nuh uh.
A little goes a long way. If you have a little bit of everything in your day or your week, you have a balanced life. If you are ONLY working, or ONLY working out, or ONLY pining for your soul mate you’ve not met yet, then you do not have a balanced life.
Have an apple instead of a pudding cup, a walk with your honey instead of holing up at the gym, and include bits of all areas into your life besides just working every day. Just start with little things, things you enjoy, and you will see that cup of balance fill up and wonderfully flow from cup to cup to cup with your fun, balanced life.
3. You do you – just say no.
One of the biggest setbacks to the work-life balance is we consume ourselves taking care of everyone around us. Water Signs, especially Cancer, have a really big problem with this one. They are the nurturers and are only happy when people around them are happy.
Well guess what? They’re happiest when you’re happiest, so, you do you. Take care of you, put your happiness first, and life has a magical way of falling into place. When you do that at work, you reach your own goals and become successful.
When you do that in love, your partner admires your confidence and independence, or, you attract partners who admire confidence and independence. When you put yourself first in your health, well, obviously you’re the winner there too, right?
A little goes a long way. This is not permission from the universe to become a selfish ego maniac, just a gentle reminder that it’s okay to put yourself first sometimes. The other Cardinal Signs Aries, Libra, and Capricorn, are good at this. Sometimes a little too much so, but that’s another story for another day.
Bottom line is they are the most successful signs because they put their needs first. They don’t need someone to complete them, just to complement them. Meet your needs, and you will find life starts to get more fun and more balanced.
Concluding thoughts….
When it comes to finding work-life balance, it’s not as hard as it sounds. It’s all about…balance. Moderation is the key. A little bit of everything is a good thing. Take care of your needs, put your goals number one like the Cardinal Signs.
Be flexible like the Mutable Signs and learn how to give and take with yourself. Never forget, a little goes a very long way. How do you create the work-life balance in your world?