This article originally appeared in the September 2021 issue of Security Business magazine. When sharing, don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn and @SecBusinessMag on Twitter.
From your first day to your last, it is an integral part of your life. It is always in the background, and as you get older, it moves to the foreground and helps you make important and not-as-important decisions.
It is balance…and it is everywhere. From rolling over and sitting up to learning to walk, it is there in the physical sense, but no one really pays attention until the first time they sit on a seesaw at the playground. That is when you learn that equal weight makes the fulcrum flat. Disparate weights cause one person to be in the air while the other is on the ground.
As you get older, balance starts in the cerebral sense – whether balancing school vs. friends vs. family vs. extracurriculars, balance is always there.
In adulthood, balance becomes less about you as an individual and more about you as a part of a team – whether that team is family or work. It does not have to be symmetrical. It can be one heavy item or a dozen light items. It can be two pictures equally spaced on the mantle or a large picture on one side and three smaller ones on the other.
U.S. multi-gold medal gymnast Simone Biles recently had an issue with balance that caused her to drop out of parts of the Olympics. Her repertoire is concluded by striking that perfect vertical posture after a gymnastic routine. Her initial balance was off by just a few degrees, but it was enough to create a hazardous situation. Sometimes a few degrees are all that is needed.
Balance Tested
Most recently, balance became a huge issue for most of us with the onset of COVID-19. Overnight, people were forced to figure out the best way to balance their new lives – two people working from home while homeschooling their kids and paying attention to confused pets who were used to having the house to themselves. Suddenly, fulcrums were split, and the balancing act was more complicated than ever.
Fast forward several months and the balance changed to being in the office and at home at the same time, kids being in school and at home at the same time, and pets being more confused than ever.
All that balance that was worked so hard for is now testing you to regain it, and if imbalance takes control, it can be overwhelming. This is when you may need to stop, step back, and take a good look at the bigger picture. Look at the aspects of your life and begin to nudge things back into place or to another place that fits the new paradigm. Like a game of Jenga, only in reverse.
How do we regain the balance that was thrown off-kilter?
Four Ways to Regain Your Balance
First: Prioritize. Decide how to tackle what is important, what is urgent, what is important but not urgent, and what will buy you more time to get the important things done.
Second: Teamwork. Work with your boss, your employees, your colleagues, your spouse, and your kids on creating a set of schedules that allow each aspect to work alongside one another.
Third: Relax. Just because you suddenly have a dozen things dumped on your plate does not mean they are all in need of immediate attention. Seeing your inbox counter go from a few to an avalanche can create a panic. With every ding comes another task that requires your immediate attention…or does it?
Fourth: Balance. With the first three steps finished, now is when you weigh each item and place them into two stacks – big project here, a bunch of small jobs there – all the while keeping the measurements as close to equal as possible and allowing for both your own life and those in your life.
Sometimes you just need to reset your balance, and if all else fails, find yourself a seesaw.
Stuart Clapp is Supervisor of Inside Sales for PSA Security Network. Request more info about PSA at www.securityinfowatch.com/10214742.
