How to Attain Balance in Work and Life

For most women entrepreneurs, juggling the demands of career, family and personal life is their number one challenge. Often feelings of overwhelm arise when trying to strike a balance. To avoid these feelings, it is best to prioritize the activities that are the most important to you.

Here are some ideas and methods that have helped me and can help you find balance:

Keep a log. In an effort to avoid overwhelm, I began to track everything I do for one week, both work-related and family-related. I then decided what is necessary and what I can eliminate to have more time for more things that satisfy me.


Separate work time from personal time. Though it may not always be easy in today’s technologically driven community, turn off your work-related cell phone and any other devices when you make time to spend with your family, yourself, or your friends. Give yourself (and others) a break from being obligated to immediately respond on your ‘off-hours.’


Know it’s okay to take time for you. Women tend to have a habit of always putting others first and they neglect nurturing themselves. This neglect is an important contributor to the stress that comes from not finding balance. When you begin to eliminate the feeling of guilt for not doing everything that others ask of you, you will be much happier and better able to find the balance that you seek. Fight the guilt. It sounds like a simple concept, but it is not always easy to do. Women often have a difficult time saying no, but keep concentrating on making quality time to nurture yourself; otherwise you’ll never find that balance. Find a little time each day that you set aside specifically for you, such as running, working out, watching your favorite show or reading your favorite book, or whatever that might be.


Concentrate on the current task. Do you ever find that when you are concentrating on one thing, you’ll notice that the dishes need to be cleaned, or the clothes put away, or the trash dumped or the bed pillows fluffed, or whatever else that may need to be done? I have been guilty of this on more than one occasion. Be strong; concentrate on the task that you currently have scheduled to get done. If you allow yourself to get distracted too much with other things, you will not be able to accomplish what you set out to accomplish that day or week.


Schedule out your time. I have found it very useful to write a list of attainable daily goals and schedule them out by the hour. I will do this for each day of the week, so that I don’t have to guess what I need to do next and by the end of the week, I can look back at how much I actually accomplished. I am always pleasantly surprised. They don’t have to be huge goals, but smaller goals done in increments. A family calendar can help as well. Each person writes out their daily/weekly events and things to do and this is helpful in avoiding any schedule conflicts or time crunches.


Plan out your time off. Try to make a habit of doing routine-type things little bits at a time during the week, so that you feel better and more relaxed on the day that you schedule for play and relaxation.



Remember, balance doesn't mean doing everything. Write out your top priorities and set your boundaries.

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Balance in Design

Having balance in life makes us feel good. It is the same for design. When designers incorporate different elements on a page in evenly balanced layouts, it makes the viewer feel more comfortable, at ease, and less confused. All designs have specific basic elements to convey a certain message beyond the individual words and graphics that are placed on the page. How these elements are placed on the page determines how our eye moves around the page as well as how immediately we get and understand the intended message.

Balance in design works throughout all kinds of brand materials:

Logos

Business cards

Letterhead

Advertisements

Fact Sheets

Brochures

Books

Newsletters

Press Releases

Websites

and more...



First, What is Balance in Design?

Visual balance comes from arranging elements on a page with the purpose of not having any one section of the page be too heavy visually. At times, designers intentionally place elements on a page to create a visual imbalance to express a certain mood or emotion.

Basic principles of balance in design encompass 4 main principles:

Proximity - Proximity refers to how close or far words and graphics are from one another on a page. These elements together create an overall balance, telling the eye where to look.


Alignment – Aligning the elements of type and graphics on the page can aid in reading and understanding the intended message. When correct alignment on the page is not accomplished, it can make the layout difficult to read and may drive away viewers.


Consistency - Consistent use of type and graphics shows the viewer where to go and it helps them navigate the layout easily.



White Space – It is important to use white space, not only for balance, but also to give the viewer a place for their eye to rest. Designs that cram too many elements in one space may be too difficult to read or make the viewer feel uncomfortable.



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