Make more space in your life with these 7 secrets to organizing your schedule and achieving a better work-life balance.
Do you feel like you’re constantly juggling life? You’re trying to be the best mom, spouse, friend, co-worker, business owner, coach, and every other role you hold? Are you one of the many people with so many balls in the air that you’re not sure which to catch and which to let fall? And then you find yourself hoping they’ll eventually all bounce in the same direction?
It’s exhausting. And exactly what this circus act feels like.
So how do you stop juggling and finally find balance, harmony, and satisfaction in the life you’re really living?
Start by redefining balance
There are many ideas about balance. Unfortunately, most fall short.
Balance isn’t about splitting your time perfectly down the middle—50/50—because life rarely works that way. True balance comes from letting go of trying to be everything to everyone and accepting that it looks different for everyone, and it even changes with the seasons of life.
As Courtney Carver of Be More With Less writes in Soulful Simplicity:
“Instead of searching for more efficient ways to do it all, do less. Say ‘no,’ and protect your time for what matters most to you. Work with people who want your best, not your busiest. Stop comparing lists, your life, and your love.”
Instead of trying to be the best all the time, focus on being fully present wherever you are. Work when you’re at work, rest and connect when you’re at home, and let each part of your life inspire the other rather than take over.
7 Steps to Create More Balance for a Happier, Healthier You
1. Practice Self-Care
No matter how much you try, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Before you give away your energy, ensure you’re charged up. Fill yourself up with daily self-care, whether it’s a morning ritual you love, a walk during lunch, or a hot bath at the end of the day. When you recharge and refuel, you have more to give. Self-care is one of the most giving things you can do.
2. Prioritize
Trim, trim, trim. Trim commitments that don’t align with your values. In the process, choose what truly matters. That might be attending your daughter’s dance practice instead of ironing a mountain of clothes or swapping perfectionism for purpose. You don’t have to do it all, nor should you. Instead of attempting, live with purpose.
3. Create a Healthy Mindset
That might be shifting how you talk to yourself, but it might also be accepting compliments graciously. Focus on the positive. Live in line with your values. Remember, happiness isn’t something that happens to you—it’s something you choose.
4. Plan
Balance requires intentional planning. But it’s not just filling your calendar. It’s also removing what no longer serves you to make room for what does. Don’t just plan. Plan with purpose. Align the time you choose to spend with the action that invests in the path you want to walk. Time will always fill itself; instead of letting it choose how you want to fill it.
5. Expect the Unexpected
Life throws curveballs, so many that it seems the unexpected is what should be expected. Instead of being overwhelmed or caught off guard by the unexpected, plan for it. That doesn’t mean planning for problems, but understanding the unexpected opens the door for opportunity.
Leave space in your schedule and budget for the impromptu meeting, the broken tire, or the leaky roof. Anticipating the unexpected keeps you grounded and unfazed, helping you keep moving in your desired direction.
6. Turn it off
You’re probably assuming we’re just talking about your phone or electronics, but we’re also talking about turning off the never-ending tumble of things going on in your mind. Even 15 minutes of stillness a day can be revitalizing. Sometimes you just need a hard reset, which happens when you allow yourself to unwind. Let white space create room for growth, peace, and satisfaction.
7. Choose Happiness
No matter how chaotic life gets, happiness is always available. But you have to embrace it. Choose it. When you do, it acts like a weight that stabilizes everything else.
End Schedule Shaming and live nourished.
In our fast-paced world, self-care is often frowned upon and overlooked. Naps aren’t always laziness. They can be rejuvenating. Just as long visits with friends aren’t wasted time, they’re connecting.
It’s time to stop the schedule shaming, slow down, and soak in life. Often, the greatest joy is found in the slow.
Use each of these steps to help you take control of your schedule, rather than letting your schedule control you. Balance isn’t about equality. It’s about alignment, purpose, and enjoying the life you’ve intentionally created.
See Inside the 2026 Nourished Planner
Want a peek at how the Nourished Planner can help you organize your schedule, track your habits, and create more balance? Download a free weekly planner page to try it out and see how it fits your life.
