Manage your stress by balancing your life!

"There is no such thing as work life balance, it is all life. The balance has to be within you" Sadhguru

Stress is a response or reaction to something that requires your attention or action. This response or reaction could cause a physical, emotional, or psychological strain. Stress is not good or bad, it’s our response or reaction to it that is significant, and this varies hugely among people.

I like to look at managing and reducing stress and ultimately avoiding burnout as balancing your life. If we improve the balance in our lives it improves our wellbeing, we feel happier at work and home and have more energy. We ultimately feel fulfilled because we are engaging in all areas of our lives, not just one. Having balance in your life does not mean that we will not experience stress, this is a part of living. If we have balance in our lives, our response and reaction to stress should, hopefully, be more positive.

If you were to think about your balance in life, would you feel you have a balance??? People often talk about work-life balance, but I like to think of it as life balance. We are more than the work we do however work may consume much of our energy and headspace.

Work is something we do for a living to enable us to have the lifestyle that we enjoy. Work also offers a challenge, to feel a sense of achievement, fulfilment, and to reach limits we may never have thought we could. Work can be a huge part of who we are as people however we are more than this and I would like to look at the other areas in terms of managing stress in your life.

The other areas of our lives that we may need to take into consideration when thinking about life balance are;

Work/ Career/ Business
Life purpose
Money
Relationships
Social Life
Community
Family
Spirituality

When I work with clients in online counselling I may ask them to consider themselves and the balance they do or don’t have in terms of these headings. All of these areas add meaning and purpose and you may be fulfilling some areas and not others. It is ok not to fulfil all areas, be kind to yourself when you are doing this exercise. I suggest that you look at your life and work in one area and start small with what you would like to do in the areas you would like to focus on. Build your foundation first and then add from here.

If you are finding it difficult to balance your life, online counselling for stress may help you. I would love to support you to have the prosperous life that you truly deserve.