Top 6 Tips for Maintaining a Balanced Lifestyle

You’re a busy person! We know that!

Maybe you have everything in a fine balance, and you know when your children’s science projects are due, what needs to be picked up at the grocery store for lunches and have a very meticulous meal planning schedule. On the other hand, there’s also the chance you are barely keeping everything afloat, and you feel that everything is in chaos. Or maybe you’re somewhere between these two situations.

I’m here to tell you that no matter where you feel you are in life, you’re doing great – but who couldn’t be doing a little bit better?

In 2022 we are balancing more responsibilities than ever, and it can be so easy to neglect the person that makes everything in your life possible – you. So to help, we’ve put together our favorite six time-tested methods to help you maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

1. Our Social Connections Keep Us Grounded

Human beings are social creatures, and as such, we require connection with our peers and community. When we’re depressed or busy, it can be easy to neglect this psychological need, but fulfilling this obligation has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression and assist in controlling our emotions. Additionally, maintaining an active social life has been shown to boost our immune system.

There are plenty of modalities to maintain those vital relationships, whether social media sites like Facebook, texts, or phone calls. However, the greatest benefits are seen in a traditional face-to-face meeting. So maybe it’s time to naturally boost that serotonin and call your mom or have coffee with your best friend.

2. Staying Active Keeps Your Mind and Body Healthy

Did you know that one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself is 30 minutes of activity five times a week?

Exercise can help with weight loss, reduce stress, improve mood, and boost your memory. You don’t need an expensive gym membership or any at-home equipment. There’s no need to try to single-handedly raise Peloton’s stock prices unless you feel so inclined. Just head outside and walk around your neighborhood, or take a jog in a nearby park, go on a local hike, kill two proverbial birds with one stone and join a workout meetup group to get your exercise and social needs met.

3. What’s YOUR Relaxation Practice?

Relaxation means a lot of things to a lot of people, but when people talk about a “relaxation practice,” it usually gets relegated to the realm of yoga. While the practice of silent breathing deeply into progressively more complicated stretches is very rewarding for many people, you may have tried it and know it’s not for you.

So, if you’re not an aspiring yogi, then may we suggest long baths, meditation, jigsaw puzzles? You’re clever – you get the picture. Any established routine of relaxing activity can be your relaxation practice. Determine what best works for you to be mindful and relaxed to allow the day’s stresses to seep away.

4. Make Leisure Time a Regular Priority

But isn’t leisure just a synonym for relaxation? That’s a great question!

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: leisure can be understood as the freedom from productive activities where relaxation in the above context is a concentrated effort to enter into activities to release stress specifically.

Making leisure your priority means going out of your way to set aside the tasks you see as “work,” whether they are your job or school assignments. Learning to balance your non-productive interests with the daily to-do lists that need to be finished is one of the keystones to having a balanced lifestyle.

5. Find a Work-Life Balance

These last two years of wild, unprecedented events have caused many shifts in our lives. As a result, many of us are not working the same careers we were at the start of 2020. However, more than ever, we see people burn out as they engage in side-hustles and forget to set aside work at the end of their day. In addition, our remote work-from-home setups have enabled more and more people not to have the separation that more traditional offices gave us.

Key components to having a healthy work balance are:

• Outlining your business hours and then only working at those times. It’s too easy to keep doing one more task after the workday is done, especially if you’re at home anyway. Shut your computer off and walk away at the end of the day.
• Setting personal boundaries for management should they try to negotiate unacceptable terms outside the scope of your job. I know this one is particularly hard, but setting personal boundaries is key to having positive mental health outcomes.
• Know your most productive work times? Not a morning person? I know I’m not! Set yourself up for success, organize your day to do the heavier lifting later in the afternoon, and use the morning to best map out your time. Or, are mornings your peak performance time? Before you leave at the end of the day, be sure to organize tomorrow in the afternoon and weigh your day to have the most taxing activities done first. Knowing your internal rhythms will be key to working smarter, not harder, to have the best balance in all areas of your life.
• Remember downtime! I love a good side-hustle but normalize having activities and passions that you aren’t monetizing. Media has promoted a culture of working and productivity to the exclusion of most other things, but remember, you can’t enjoy the time you aren’t giving yourself.

6. How Can CBD Help You?

With all the stimulation we have in our day-to-day lives, sometimes all you want is to build and maintain a sense of equilibrium. For many, CBD products may help promote a general sense of balance and homeostasis from the bombardment of stimulus and chores that build on our daily dockets.

If you aren’t sure where to start on your CBD journey, the friendly experts and wide array of products at Spirit Peaks Organics are more than excited to help you on your journey to a healthier and more balanced you.