I hope your new year is off to a great start! For the first time in many years, I allowed myself some much needed time off over the holidays, completely unplugging from work in order to recover from a nasty flu and spend time with my family. Now that I’m back to work, feeling rested and rejuvenated both mentally and physically, I’m ready to hit the ground running in 2019 – but I’m only making one resolution this year. It’s something that’s gotten increasingly out of control over the past few years, that I can no longer ignore: work-life balance.

Because work-life balance is something I've struggled with for so long,

I don’t want to pressure myself with a list of resolutions or intentions like I’ve done in the past, only to come up short on the one that actually matters the most. So this year, I’m going to approach my intention to find a work-life balance as an eventful journey and not a destination; something ongoing, which I know will take time, energy, and constant, conscious effort. 

To be honest, I’ve never been good at balancing anything, because I’m a very all or nothing person. To make matters worse, my Piscean personality is also extremely good at multi-tasking, which attributes to my being unable to completely unplug from one thing in order to do another. Even if I’m playing with my kids or on a rare date night with Dave, my mind can be on a work project, how and when I’m going to tackle the laundry that’s piling up, and what I need to add to the grocery list for the week. And while multi-tasking is a great skill to have,  it often turns into anxiety when I can’t shut off thoughts and worry about something until it’s completely done and finished.

My issue with this came to an all-time low last week when Narayan and I were reading a book and I snuck a glance at my phone when it was his turn to read.

It’s a habit I'm not proud of, but it’s become my normal.

I’ve always thought that if I get ahead of the pile up before it happens, I’d be less overwhelmed, but the exact opposite has started happening. I find myself anxious and overwhelmed all the time, anticipating an influx of things I have to do, before they even exist. (And let’s be honest, when you’re almost 5 year old notices there’s a problem, there definitely is).

So from now on, my work mode ends at 5 pm when I pick my kids up from school and Grandma’s house, and on Fridays it shuts down by 5 pm and doesn’t start again until Monday, no earlier than 8 am. Work will always be there waiting, but my family, mental and physical health needs to come first,

which is why I plan on taking much more breathing time to completely unplug, relax and live in the moment this year!

And even if I don’t truly find balance, I know I’m truly making an intention to.