Finding A Balance Between Accomplishment And Enjoyment

I love Netflix

I know love is a strong word, but I seriously enjoy Netflix.

Except, sometimes I really hate it. Sometimes I spend way too long watching my favorite shows and I don’t get anything done that day. I feel unaccomplished.

Those are the times that I indulge too much, but sometimes I spend all my time working and even though I feel accomplished, it still leaves me unhappy.

No matter how much you enjoy something or how much closer it gets you to your goals, too much of it can turn that pleasure into gluttony and guilt, or boredom and frustration.

You can even get tired of pizza. That’s right, I said it.

So, I have developed methods to ensure that I am balancing accomplishment and indulgence without leaning too far in one direction.

A balanced life is a happy life.

Balance Is All In The Measurements

To be happy, accomplished, and still indulge a little to avoid burning out, you have to have balance.

But to have balance, you first have to measure the objects on your scale.

What do you spend your time doing throughout the week?

For one week, I want you to keep a journal and write down what you are doing, and how much time you spend doing it.

Write down how much time you spend with friends, with family, reading, watching television, working, even sleeping.
Everything.

Tweaking The Formula

Once you have recordings of roughly how much time you spend on different activities throughout the week I want you to think about where you dedicated too much time, and where you didn’t dedicate enough.

Remember, the goal isn’t to become an efficiency machine that works all day or an instant gratification addict that doesn’t accomplish anything.

The goal is a healthy balance.

On your list put a minus (-) next to anything you want to spend less time on, and a plus (+) next to anything you want to spend more time on. If you think you have a good amount of time allocated you can put a equal (=) next to the item.

Take into consideration how happy something makes you and how valuable it is to your goals.

There will be items on this list that you enjoy and also help towards your goals, mark these with an asterisk (*) as you will want to dedicate a decent amount of time to these.

Testing The New Balance

Now you know what things you spend your time on, and how you’d like to tweak them.

Test out your new formula for one week.

Rinse and repeat these three steps as often as necessary to keep your life balanced between accomplishment and enjoyment.