One of my goals this month is to find balance in my days between work, play and rest. Did you see what my weeks look like now that I live in NC and actually have a life? Everything I am doing is fabulous and I wouldn’t trade it for anything… but I am struggling with the little things in between work and play and rest that seem to get neglected during the day.
For example, I am particularly struggling with three things: financial intensity, fitness & blogging.
1. Getting Intense with Finances
I admit my intensity for my finances is a little lax. I think that is because everything is pretty standard and automatic. I set up my bi-monthly paychecks so that all I need to do is monitor the transactions between checking, savings and bills, then use the rest wisely. The difference here is that I haven’t earned any extra income and don’t really have the time for babysitting or extra odd jobs. I would love to make extra money to help push my emergency savings and start new goals; just $50 a week babysitting in DC made such a difference! But then I look at my life now and my ability to save $600 a month and I think sometimes I get a little greedy. Perhaps right now I just need to chill and not worry about it.
2. Fitness
We’ve already looked at my pathetic one-month 7-pound weight gain. Thank you so much to all for the comments on gyms! I have shopped around and made a decision to (dum dum duuum….) join a gym! But not yet. I’m not going to join a gym until I can commit to simply working out outside for a month or two.
The issue here for me isn’t having a place to work out (hello great big outdoors), but it’s a) finding the time, and b) actually doing it! If I cannot find the time or motivation to go running outside then how will I find the time to get out of bed and drive to a gym? I’m giving myself at least a month, maybe more, to get into a workout routine. After I’ve proven I can handle a routine, I’ll join a gym and reward myself with workout classes. I may even save $40 for each month I’m not at a gym towards something healthy. Hmm, oooor something pretty…!
3. Blogging
Oooooh blogging. I want to give a great big I’m Sorry to all you bloggers out there whom I read and haven’t commented in so long. Some of you know who I am, others don’t. Perhaps I’ve done a decent job blogging since I moved here, but I have much less time than usual to blog and feel like my posts have been weak and vapid. I also would love to have more sponsors on the blog to help boost #1, but I suppose those take time and it would require more subscribers and such.
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So here I am sitting on my bed thinking about the three things I want to improve on, and not really knowing where to start. I think for the first one, I’m going to let it go for now. It could do me some good to have a small budget to manage and not be tempted to use extra income for spending.
For fitness and blogging, I think I need to create a schedule. Nothing too structured that I set myself up for failure, but a routine for me to follow, at least in the beginning. So if it’s Monday at 6:00 am, I know that I have two miles to run in my neighborhood. Or if it’s Wednesday evening I have to do weigh training. Or if it’s Sunday evening I know it’s time to catch up on blogs and schedule posts for the week. I will let you guys know what kind of schedule I decide and some sort of plan to balance all of these things! Or perhaps I need to just take each day as it comes and do the best I can.
Does anyone have any advise for juggling and balancing life? Do you always workout at the same time each day? Do you have a scheduled time of day when you blog?
Ooohhhhh something pretty! I love that red polka dot dress! :)
I’m actually in a similar position, but it’s kind of the opposite. I’ve let work life slide because I’ve been so concentrated on blogging. (That dang Yakezie challenge did me in!) I’ve let my home life slide. So I’m taking a break from blogging to work on the big, important stuff, and when I come back, I’m going to lower my blog expectations for myself to a reasonable level.
I say you have to prioritize. What things are MOST important to you? Make sure those things always come first. You can’t do it all, all the time, but you can do the things that are important to you. Don’t stress about the obligations you’ve placed on yourself.
I do like your idea of getting into a routine before you commit to a gym membership. It sounds like your finances are doing well on auto-pilot. You’ve not been in NC very long! Give yourself time to adjust before worrying about side income. ;)
I know the feeling, especially regarding money and fitness. Money, I go back and forth on my intensity. However, being a full-time doctoral student doesn’t allow me much “gain” so it isn’t so exciting for me to look at my finances.
Regarding fitness, I’ve found myself revamp my routine and go to the gym much more now that it is summer and I finally have a break from classes (as of 2.5 weeks ago). $40 a month for a gym seems pricey. I wonder if you can find a lower cost gym. I am a member of Planet Fitness, which is only $10/month, so if I miss a week I’m not too bummed, at least not financially. Sometimes, I exercise outside, but having a gym these past few weeks have been necessary. It may seem crazy to some, but with this heatwave, I can’t fathom exercising outside in 90 degrees. So, having an air conditioned gym doesn’t seem so bad.
Good luck with your blogging and don’t be too down on yourself.
Finding balance has been my biggest challenge these last 6 months. I kept expecting it all to fall into place so easily after my move to Iowa but, honestly, it hasn’t happened. I know that eventually in a few months things will start to feel normal and start to be a little less chaotic but for now, I’m tried of fighting it and feeling like it should be different than it is. I know I under estimated what kind of impact moving to a new city would have on my life. Honestly, it is a BIG change and expecting things to be the way they were before is unrealistic. Someday soon you and I both will find our ‘normal’ in these places. For now, I’m embracing the un-balanced-ness of my situation and taking it one day, and one week at a time.
I understand the gym part. I worked out for a month in my apartment’s gym before joining a nice full gym. But I don’t like to have a fixed time each day for workout though. I mostly go to the gym in the evenings, but sometimes I go for a quick run in the mornings when I have plans in the evening. I try to give myself deadlines like working out for 20 times this month etc. I am very new to blogging and the personal finance world, so I don’t have any advice for you. But I guess having mini goals are not too rigid would probably work you in those aspects as well
In the area of finances you should consider yourself lucky, since you don’t have to babysit your money and you aren’t in a financial crisis. Many people out there covet your financial situation. Be sure that when “extra” money does come in you manage it wisely. I am at a similar place with my finances and something I have learned is to do a check up every 3 months or so to make sure you are still spending your money the way you “really” want to.
Fitness: If you are a runner you may consider checking out the local running stores. Most of the time they have groups that meet during the week and it is free. I tried mine out this week and I will be going back.
Blogging: You should blog when you feel like it or feel moved to. There is not need to force it if it is a hobby.
I love your blog and will continue to follow it as long I can.
If you figure out the scheduling and the balance, I would love to know how you do it – and how you stick to it! I can make all the pretty schedules in the world, but motivating myself to stick to them is something else entirely…….
I can definitely relate to your financial intensity conundrum. Sometimes I have to tell myself to calm down – I save for retirement, have an emergency fund, and pay my bills on time. It’s ok to sit back and enjoy that once in awhile without worrying about what to do next! An easy lesson to forget.