A recent NY times post on Being Busy inspired me to think more about finding balance in our lives.  What does a balanced life look like? For me a balanced life is one in which you are feeling satisfaction in all areas of your life and are not feeling that any one area is not getting enough of your attention.

Here are seven tips to help you lead a balanced life

1. Set priorities and act upon them. Your actions should reflect the things that you find most important in you life. If they don’t then you need to make adjustments.
2. Be organized. Planning ahead leads to having more time to spend doing the things that are important to you. It is important to be living from a proactive rather than a reactive place.
3. Develop a support network, and more importantly use your support network. Often we take on to much because we won’t ask for help. People offer because they want to help-take them up on it. The time will come that you will give back.
4. Say no. It’s okay. Really.
5. Be less accessible. You do not have to check your email every 5 minutes nor do you have to pick up every phone call.
6. Adjust your expectations.  There is no such thing as a perfect parent. It is okay to need and want time to yourself. In fact it is imperative to have such time.
7. Focus on what you are doing rather than what you are not doing. Focusing on what is missing will only lead to unhappiness.