When you’re always on the grind—whether it’s with work, kids, or family functions—it’s tough to achieve real balance in your life. If you’re busier than you’d like to be and you constantly feel like you’re walking on a tightrope between two skyscrapers, it’s time to find balance and harmony in your life again.

In an over-connected world where days begin and end in the blink of an eye, is it possible to achieve a balanced life?

Your View on Life Balance Connects to Childhood

According to Harvard Business Review, it’s no coincidence on what you consider ideal work life balance. A recent article states that your ideal work life balance is often mirrored from what you observed during childhood—for better or for worse.

“According to our research, most individuals fall into one of four categories: (1) They willingly adopt their parents’ model of work-life balance; (2) they unintentionally adopt their parents’ model; (3) they willingly reject their parents’ model; or (4) they unintentionally reject their parents’ model. Interestingly, although the majority of individuals belong to one of these four categories, there are a limited number who straddle more than one category.”

Whether you’re trying to copy the life balance set by your parents or you’re going your own direction, juggling every responsibility and priority in life can feel overwhelming.

Where to Start with Achieving Harmony in Your Life

According to Huffington Post, prioritizing is the pathway to success in terms of achieving balance—and it starts with a list.

“You can either write this list down on a piece of paper or in your journal (ideal) or simply make a mental list. These “aspects” will vary depending on your life, interests, priorities, etc. For most people, however, they tend to be things like family, personal/spiritual growth, health, career success/fulfillment, making a difference in the world, fun, money, friends/community, travel, adventure, creativity, home and more. While you don’t need to rank them necessarily, thinking of these things with some priority can be helpful.”

As you build your list, consider the following tips:

• Write down your dos and don’ts. This helps establish boundaries
• Be sure to write everything down. If you’re struggling on an aspect, skip it for now. This only wastes time
• Consider what aspects of your life are high and low priority

Life Balance Priority Chart Split into Four Quadrants

Once you create your list, Life Wellness Health shows us that your daily priorities can be split into the following four quadrants:

It’s important to remember that no one has the resources or energy to tackle everything thrown at you 24 hours per day.

Understanding this is critical to avoiding burnout, or feeling guiltily for not accomplishing everything on your plate during the day.

Life Wellness Health states that the important things to do go on the upper left and the things to plan for (important but not time sensitive) are on the upper right quadrant. The tasks to avoid are on the bottom left, and everything else goes on the bottom right.

A good approach is to priority early and do it often. Don’t be afraid to change your list.

For a fast way to feel accomplished, start your day with tasks that are quick wins—high impact and low effort. These give you the best return for little effort.

Finding Your Life Balance Wheel

According to The Geeky Leader, a life balance wheel can also help identify areas in your life where you find low satisfaction. It helps you establish balance by providing insight on what you need to prioritize to find harmony.

When you look at the wheel, The Geeky Leader proposes to ask yourself the following questions:

• How satisfied are you with this part of your life?
• Are the activities you do in this area fulfilling?
• Think about this part of your life, how much energy are you prepared to put in? (1-10)
• What could you do to have more satisfaction and fulfillment in this area?
• What could stop you to make it work? How would you recognize/mitigate that?
• Who could help you to make it work?
• Who could remind you, help to keep you on track?

Asking yourself these questions will put your priority list into place, and you can assign these priorities into one of the four quadrants above.

Use 5-Minute Mindfulness to Achieve Calm During Chaos

When you can’t get your head above water, it’s important to take a step back and practice mindfulness. This is the state of just simply being. We wear so many hats throughout the day such as employee, parent, or student that you forget to cool down and just be yourself for 5 minutes.

5-minute mindfulness involves taking a break from the hustle and bustle to reconnect with your mind and body.

Regardless of your priority list, take 5 minutes from your day to practice the following:

• Think about your breathing—sense the flow and the rise and fall of your lungs
• Connect with your senses. Focus on how your socks feet within your shoes, the smells around you, and the sounds you hear
• If you take a mental break as you eat, notice the food you’re eating such as its color, texture, and taste
• When your mind begins to wander during your 5-minute mindfulness, gently bring it back to your breath
• Consider downloading an app to listen to soothing nature sounds as you meditate, such as rain or waterfalls

How are You Achieving Life Balance?

We hope these tips help you achieve harmony in your everyday life. If you have tips on how you manage your own life, we’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Don’t forget to share this blog post on Facebook and Twitter to help others manage their busy lives.