Of course different things work for different people, but these steps could probably apply to most of our busy, distracted, multi-tasking, first world lifestyles.
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In a Harvard Business School survey, 94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and nearly half said they work more than 65 hours per week. What is left after working 65 hours per week? Probably a pretty drained individual who doesn’t have much energy left for their partner, family, friends or personal enjoyment.

Here are four practices we can all work on to help us achieve balance:

1) Act with Integrity

If you’re acting with strong moral judgment at work and in everything you do, you’re more likely to feel at peace with yourself.  Feeling unease with something you’ve done or didn’t do, feeling guilt over not accomplishing something to your standards, etc. are things that can keep you up at night.  Do your best, always. Do some work to accept the things that you could have improved upon and then let it go.  It’s so much easier to turn the page when we are happy with what we’ve written.

2) Set Realistic Goals

Why set yourself up for failure?  Don’t position yourself to feel overwhelmed or daunted.  Always start small and build upon your accomplishments.  It’s better to under promise and over deliver than the opposite.  Although lofty goals may seem tempting to make and they sure sound great to say out loud, they usually end up in you being disappointed in yourself and potentially looking like a flake.

3) Unplug

While it’s nice to be there for our coworkers and clients at all times, the world won’t stop spinning if you wait a few hours while you recharge yourself.  It’s sometimes easy to justify not unplugging because the of organizing that you can accomplish on your iPhone while sitting down and having a physical break at the end of the day.  It may bring you momentary peace, but there is a special peace that comes from being truly present and focused. Staring at something that’s not backlit, listening to the sounds around you, looking into someone’s eyes as you speak with them and focusing on yourself and your surroundings.  Disengaging from distraction results in beautiful things.

4) Be healthy

Things get messy, we all let go of our standards from time to time even though we know that we feel our best when we’re healthy and doing good things for our mind and body.  Put down that energy drink.  Grab a glass of water.  Get some fresh air.  Get up from your desk and take a walk around the block.  A peaceful, positive mind comes so much more naturally when we’re feeling good. Make a commitment to devote small portions of your day to your health.  Make it achievable so that it can be adopted into a habit.  A walk, bike ride, a healthy meal and a jug of water does wonders.

Simple, I know.  But simplicity is something that’s all too easy to deviate from in today’s society.

Did you know that Pinnacle PAC’s opening hours are from 10:00am-4:00pm?  Providing quality service to our clients is paramount, but we understand that is something tough to consistently offer when we’re drained and distracted.  Our commitment to ourselves is part of our commitment to you.

Ask us more about why we do things the way we do.  Read a little more about our philosophy here: https://pinnaclepac.com/our-philosophy/.

Written by: Erica Hadikin

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