Have you ever tried to balance a set of those old style Victorian scales?
It is really tricky! And that is balancing just two elements.
And yet we talk about work-life balance as if balancing all the different elements of our life is achievable.
However, I have found a great alternative in a little book called Destination Simple by Brooke Mcalary and it is called Tilt.
Tilting is about recognising an area of your life that in that moment, needs a bit more of your attention. It is not about balancing everything but giving an area of your life a bit more focus (meaning a bit less goes elsewhere).
This year I am tiling more into my social life. I could use Covid as an excuse for having not seen friends for years, but that is only part of the reason. The main reason was tilting too much into work life.
To tilt, I now take two days a month off of work and arrange to meet someone. Being self employed it does give me that flexibility and like most things that comes at a cost too. By taking time out of the business, it reduces the income I can generate over those two days.
By taking time out of work and tilting into play a bit more, I am being more productive in work. The break ‘tops up’ the batteries meaning I return the next working day more energised, more enthusiastic.
One of Nick’s favourite sayings is “If you only have a minute, it will only take a minute.” By reducing the time at work I am getting things done quicker.
What has also happened is that by tilting into being more social, people have started contacting me – now I could get into the Law of Attraction and energy but that is a whole different topic!
The bottom line is, that by tilting, both work and social life are now better!
What can you do to tilt more?
A good place to start is to think about the areas of your life. Most of us have work, family, social, relationship, perhaps parents to look after.
Having that list in mind, think about where you put most of your energy and time, and which element is being neglected.
Then tilt some energy from one to the other.
The secret in tilting is making small changes. If your focus has been lacking in your relationship, perhaps a date night once a fortnight is a tilt you can make. Or if family time is lacking, plan a weekend when you all do something together, and accept the housework can wait another weekend!
What tilts can you make?
Caroline Cavanagh is an anxiety specialist and hypnotherapist in Salisbury, Wiltshire. She is an author and public speaker and would love to talk to you if you would like to know more about her work
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