Creating balance can be overwhelming; balance takes planning, time, dedication, and so much miscommunication it’s almost comical. Balance is hard! Over the last three years of my undergrad, I have come to learn many tips and tricks to keep all of the different and intersecting parts of my life moving smoothly.Â
Having fun with organizing plays such an important part of making sure that multiple aspects of your life are running smoothly together. Whether it’s color-coding, creating collages for inspiration, journaling, or setting goals for yourself, there are numerous ways to personalize your life and have fun designing. Personally, my favorite ways to stay organized are by color coding my Google calendar using Coolors, organizing my bookmark bar with folders for each of my given courses or jobs, and keeping a designated junk/drop-off journal where content doesn’t matter! I try my best to organize the chaos. Things like brain dumps, junk journals, and general condensation when you can: one multi-subject notebook for classes, a grab-and-go bin for purse essentials, or something as small as a tab collection in your bookmarks bar can make things more mentally manageable.Â
While physical organization is an important part of beginning to create balance, it is surely not the only part. Creating balance happens internally too. To do this, I like to make internal and external lists as they relate to my mental balance. For example, I have a list on my phone with how often I say “yes” or “no” to invitations to keep track of how I am balancing my social life in relation to work and school. Prioritizing yourself and making decisions for you and you only is important sometimes (particularly for those of us that tend to people please). Keeping track of just how often you’re prioritizing yourself, or on the flip side, your friends, can help bring these unbalances to the front of your mind for confrontation and re-evaluation.Â
I have learned that balance is most oftentimes misunderstood as a means to be more productive or to garner more motivation. I disagree with this wholeheartedly, balance is about supporting the self in all aspects — not just career, skills, or time, but emotions, decisions, and reflection as well. A way that I intentionally remove the idea of productivity from the act of balance is by ordering my concerns. If I have a rough emotional day, maybe taking a long bath comes before doing my homework. If I have a great day full of conversation and activities, but still have homework to do, maybe that is something that I would prioritize when I get home. Showing up for myself is one of the largest ways that I help myself restore and maintain balance.Â
In all, the idea of balance seems more important than the balance itself — the attempt, recognition, and reflection to work towards a more circular and proportional life. Things will always tip the scales, and in this way I am not sure that there truly is such a thing as balance, however, the goal and attempt towards embracing all different and intersecting versions of yourself works to get there.