Work-Life Balance?

I’ve started work again just one hour a day and I am finding it incredibly hard to maintain this ambitious work-life balance I imagined myself having.

It doesn’t seem hard to work one hour a day when you work from home, but when you also want to make sure you’re getting the most productivity and positivity out of your entire day, preserving that balance becomes so difficult.

It is very hard to work from home as it is, and with a combination of depression and anxiety, it can take so much effort to even wake up before 10 AM when you really don’t have to wake up that “early.”

I love that I am able to work one hour a day, even if I am not making the same money as I was before, and I don’t have the same schedule I prefer. I’m proud of my accountability because, as my readers know, I have struggled with keeping up my work-life balance well before the COVID-19 quarantine was happening.

Here is what I want to do everyday…

I would like to wake up before 10 AM, work (AND EARN MONEY DOING IT!,) write at least one blog post, read books, cook/eat something healthy, do the daytime dishes, do the nighttime dishes, clean the kitchen, keep the dining room tidy, keep the living room tidy, make my bed, vacuum my bedroom, clean both litterboxes, feed the cats (dry food twice, wet food twice,) water the cats, do light exercise, shower, brush my teeth day & night, floss, do my hair, do my makeup, take care of my nails, keep my clothes folded and tidy, clear my dresser, watch one film, watch one episode of a TV show, make a tasty AND healthy dinner, drawing/doodle, practice a language on Duolingo, play with the cats for an adequate amount of time, take photos that I can use for my blog later, listen to one new album or artist, meditate with my crystals, say a prayer, and go to sleep before midnight on weekdays!

Is that spreading myself too thin?

That’s not even counting the days when I have staggered chores like watering all of my plants, vacuuming other parts of the apartment, cleaning my bathroom, dropping off/picking up the laundry, changing the bedsheets, hand washing clothes when necessary, organizing a drawer or closet, putting laundry away, breaking down boxes, taking out the recycling… I’m sure that I get into more things than that, too, but I can’t think of any others at the moment.

How do you maintain your work-life balance? Does it work better for you to have a structured schedule created by your job than it is to make your schedule yourself?

I famously make a To Do list when there is a lot that I want to get done. That is an excellent way to gain some momentum, especially checking off things that you do routinely.

There are other hobbies that I want to get into, as well, like practicing an instrument, making miniatures, using my spirograph kit, doing jigsaw puzzles, new languages on Duolingo… So many books left to read, movies left to watch, and albums that I haven’t played yet.

There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

Time to spark up, though, because I’ve done almost all of my dailies already! HOORAY FOR ME!

And you can do it, too.