Find Your Balance

September gets on my nerves. It always just sneaks up on you. It’s not that I don’t like September, I just love summer. Taking lavish vacations, working on my tan, concerts galore, staying #BookedAndBusy living my best life and not worrying about the future.

But then September hits. It starts getting colder and the days get shorter. You know, Green Day was on to something when they sang about sleeping through September. It’s back to balancing a full-time job, being a student part-time, making graduate school applications a full-time worry, making an effort to have friendships and relationships, and generally trying to keep my sanity. This is life. Sometimes life is hard, but it doesn’t have to be.

This September I vow to find my balance. Rather than always feeling two steps behind I want to be right on track. Two steps ahead is cool too but I’m not trying to overachieve, I’m just trying to maintain. Here are some steps I’m taking to bring balance to a hectic time of year.

1. Invest in a planner.

I love a good planner. I’m a millennial, but I’m old fashion too. I love my phone but there’s something about writing things down on your own that helps you remember them better. In high school, I looked forward to getting a crisp new agenda every fall. I’d decorate with pictures of all my favorite celebrities and have different colored gel pens for different tasks. Fast forward a decade and not much has changed.

To be honest, I have six calendars. Four are paper and two are electronic. I have my work calendar in Outlook, but to supplement it I also have a big desk calendar where I write down events immediately. Clicking accept on an e-invite usually means I forget about it until my computer reminds me of where I need to be. I also have a calendar with just the days of the week and dates so that way when I need to know what day of the week is the 25th is, a quick glance shows me it’s a Tuesday.

I also have a Google calendar I use for personal events. Some people like to put everything on one calendar, but it becomes too cluttered and makes it hard to separate work from personal life.

My favorite calendar is my planner from Create 365. It’s fully customizable and an organizers dream. I stumbled upon the world of planners as a craft while trying to kill time in Michaels one day and now I’m hooked.

Now I’m not saying you need to go spend $30 for a planner stocked with stickers, and accouterments galore, but I would suggest that you have at least one physical calendar. You can keep it in a frequently used space (either at work or home) so you can record all your “To-Do’s” “Don’t Forgets” and other daily life happenings all in one place.

2. Practice Mindfulness.

I started practicing mindfulness shortly after moving and starting my current job. In the past, I’ve written about how I became sick all because I was stressed. Mindfulness keeps me rooted in the here and now rather than stressing about things in the future or worrying about events and circumstances that are totally out of my control.

I don’t practice it as much in the summer, but once I kick back into gear in the fall, I set a weekly reminder to try and get at least one good session in. Mindfulness is a preventative measure for anticpated stress.

3. Don’t forget to have fun.

I’m an all or nothing kind of gal. When I’m working, I’m working. When I’m relaxing, I’m really relaxing. In college, I was invited to study while drinking wine and I nearly lost my mind. How can you be academic and social at the same time? To me, it was a foreign concept and still is. However, it made me realize, things don’t need to be so cut and dry. Although I can’t drink wine and study at the same time, I can study for three or four hours and reward myself with a glass of wine or two when I’m done. There’s no harm in rewarding yourself for a job well done.

I did and sometimes still do set ridiculous standards for myself when I’m in “work mode. No TV all weekend until XYZ, 123, This That and the 5th are done. Who am I kidding? I love TV. I have Netflix, Showtime, HBO, and Hulu. This gal can binge watch. But rather than sacrifice a whole weekend to a mediocre season of OITNB, I could instead, put on an episode while washing dishes. Two relatively low-key tasks that require minimal amounts of attention. Balance.

4. Work Hard. Plan Ahead.

Contrary to everything I just said, working hard is also part of the game. I have been known to waste away an entire weekend because I decided to get drinks with friends on a Friday, do a bottomless brunch on a Saturday and then spend Sunday working out a mimosa and margarita hangover. What a waste.

I attribute weekends like this to poor planning a big dose of procrastination.

Everyone thinks they’re a procrastinator, but I am the Queen. I can procrastinate like nobody’s business.

Need to wash the dishes? Oh look, all my houseplants need to be repotted, time to run to Garden Expo to buy some new pots.

Have a 12-page paper due? I’ve always wondered what the best resorts are in Bali, time to plan a vacation I have no intentions of taking.

Or how about the one time I needed groceries but was too lazy to go out and instead researched all the Chinese food restaurants in my town and ranked them according to their Yelp reviews. After my third Kung Pao chicken combination plate of the week, I was sick of Chinese food for months.

The point is, if you plan ahead, you can dedicate yourself to the tasks you must do. The next 40 days of my life are all mapped out written down and accounted for. I want to remain hyper-aware that if I let my procrastinating get in the way of my plans, I will have only myself to be upset with in the end.

I have a girl’s trip planned later this month to go shopping at one of my favorite outlet malls. Its planned for the week before I take the GRE and the week after I have a paper due for my class. I already know that I have a great weekend set, but if I stay focused up until that paper is handed in, then I can let loose after. Just as soon as that’s done, it’s grind mode for a week and then time for the GRE. And you know what I have planned after I take the GRE? That’s right a bottomless brunch with my girlfriends.

THAT’S BALANCE IN ACTION.

5. Have an accountability partner.

There are several people in my life who I trust will keep me in check when need be. But more importantly, they hold me accountable for my actions when I’m unable to. They also are great at reminding me when I need to #TreatMyself if I’ve been a little extra in it he works hard department.

Having someone who you can trust enough to help you find that balance in your life is a valuable thing. I understand not everyone feels like they have someone like that in their life, but I would encourage you to seek someone out (parents count too) who can be that person for you.

If you really can’t think of anyone…you’ve got me! I’m a great Hype-Woman but also pretty good at Keeping-it-Real and putting people in check when need be.

So that’s it. Balance. It’s hard to find, but once you’ve got your groove it’s a much smoother ride.

What are you trying to balance this month? What plans have you stressed out already? Let me know in the comments below and send me an email if you’d like!