Stop Letting Errands Run You – January is “Get a Balanced Life Month”
Work-life balance…how often do you hear people offering up that little nugget as a “simple” solution to all problems?
The thing is, balance is easier said than done…right?
Well, enter the New Year and its opportunities to start anew and get in balance. Yet, it is also the time for that inevitable call for Resolutions. You know, those promises (or threats) you make to yourself, spend energy planning, and then feel horrible about dropping, failing, or quitting within the first weeks or months of the year?
If you find yourself stuck in the perennial cycle of entering January as a clean slate for starting a diet and exercise plan, finally getting finances in order, organizing your home, and all the rest…Stop it.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Stop. It. NOW.
Work-Life Balance Means Starting Small
Yes, January is officially the “Get a Balanced Life Month,” but it is not the only month in which you can hit such a goal.
Don’t begin the year with some oversized and overwhelming initiative. Statistics tell us that it is a recipe for burnout. In fact, a study published by Ohio State University shows that “only 9% of Americans that make resolutions complete them. In fact, research goes on to show that 23% of people quit their resolution by the end of the first week, and 43% quit by the end of January.”
Why? Because, instead of helping to simplify, New Year’s resolutions are a tradition and not a need. Something needed is not as easy to give up as something you randomly choose to do.
Also, setting a goal based on a traditional time of year may allow obstacles to add to the challenges, and those obstacles slow or halt any progress. Lastly, many January goals or resolutions are often oversized and impractical or unmeasurable, and few of us have any sort of accountability around the resolution or goal.
“But,” you’re thinking, “that one turn of a calendar page does make it a good time to work on all kinds of issues. Can’t you still just give resolutions a try?”
Sure, but try to look at the new year NOT as a chance to get a fully balanced life ASAP, but to begin building as balanced a life as possible.
Baby steps rather than enormous leaps.
The Many Pieces of Work-Life Balance
Everyone trying to book major changes into their calendars or routines is likely just seeking some sort of balance, simplification, clarity, or reset. This takes a lot more time than a month, a quarter of a year, or even a few years. Breaking down any goal into smaller chunks allows progress to be seen or measured and creates attainable goals.
So, what is the first step in building a balanced life? Those experts tell us to identify where there is an imbalance.
And to do that, they say, start with a list of the tasks and events that comprise your typical “day in the life,” and discover imbalances in your work-life routines.
Here’s mine:
1. Wake up, and feed the cat (otherwise she’ll scream and cause chaos until it happens)
2. Brew coffee and take a few moments to authentically savor the peace and that first blessed surge of caffeine
3. Read emails from the afternoon/evening before and prioritize them
4. Draft “to-do” list for that day
5. Get ready for work – that alone is a full list, but let’s just keep it simple and stick with “getting ready”
6. Work 8-10 hours – again, an oversimplification as “work” means anything from the physical work to managing any number of business management tasks
7. Head home – stopping to handle any errands along the way.
8. Get home and try NOT to head straight to the couch
9. Feed the cat (she’s screaming again)
10. Review “to-do” list and squeeze in a few of the key items, if still possible
11. Ignore the growing pile of laundry
12. Make dinner
13. Use couch time to finish up emails, texts, and other electronic “to dos” while also allowing the cat her regular amount of “mom’s lap snuggle time” (Not as easy at it sounds)
14. Fall asleep on the couch several times before heading to bed
Unbalanced?
Oh, heck yes.
Capable of being rebalanced?
Certainly.
As the simplest example, I can look at item 14 and start to develop a healthier bedtime routine. Item 12 could be improved by adding a few hours of meal prep to one day in the week and changing that “make dinner” to “heat dinner,” etc.
Then, I can move on to anything I might subcontract out to someone else in the household or to someone more capable of doing the work. Shopping for groceries at the end of a long day, for instance, is not actually necessary. I can utilize delivery and pickup services nearby.
As one writer noted, as “important as it is to ‘get that bread’, it is equally important to plan out days when you can breathe and have me-time.” So, even mundane tasks can be assigned to someone else – whether for free or a fee – to provide you with that essential breathing room.
Find Work-Life Balance Partners and Resources
In fact, the need for some downtime and greater control of work-life balance has created a new industry. A recent article touted the ability to generate a great second (or even primary) income as a “house helper,” or someone who gladly manages any number of tasks from a standard “to-do” list.
As the article notes, it depends “on the person or family and their needs,” and that helper may do everything from grocery shopping and meeting contractors, plumbers, or electricians at a home, to fixing lunches for kids or elderly family members. Helpers can mow the lawn and walk the dog, go to the UPS or FedEx store, and do any “errands and day-to-day activities that people need help with and are willing to pay someone else to do.”
This is also why there has been such an ongoing and increasing demand for home delivery and service opportunities. Food and grocery delivery are just the start.
Laundry and Dry Cleaning Delivery Can Help
Why Drive Twice…When You Don’t Have to Drive At All?
Laundry is another easy-to-delegate item from a to-do list. If you live alone or no one else in the household can tackle the weekly laundry, a “wash dry fold” service is likely readily available. If it isn’t the laundry as much as heading to the dry cleaners, free home pickups, and deliveries are also a widely available option from premium shops.
Oak Hill Dry Cleaners can provide BOTH a weekly service and an on-demand option. So, whether it is just getting all the weekly laundry done, including towels, sheets, and everyone’s clothes, or it is a bi-monthly need for laundered shirts and business clothes, we can help.
Just head to our website and quickly create your free dry-cleaning delivery account. You can make it even simpler and just call our shop at 207-883-9188 and we’ll set it up for you.
Then, you can focus on the next item on your list and start to see those scales tip into balance. January is a great time to skip running errands someone else can do for you and stop your errands from running you! If your laundry and dry cleaning are setting the scales against you, Oak Hill Dry Cleaners and their free pickup and delivery service is a perfect solution.
Sources
https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/leadreadtoday/why-most-new-years-resolutions-fail#:~:text=Researchers%20suggest%20that%20only%209,fail%20at%20New%20Year's%20resolutions.
https://nationaltoday.com/get-a-balanced-life-month/
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/20/how-to-start-side-hustle-as-house-helper.html