Healthy Chicks

Let me set the scene for you. It’s 9:00pm, I’m finishing up my emails and tell my husband “just 5 more minutes” until I can log off for the day and watch the latest episode of Blacklist. 9:30pm rolls around, and I say “just one minute,” this time not so convincingly. He knows one minute really means another 30, so he goes back to reading or catches up on Mad Money.

Suddenly, I get a text from a coworker, a brainstorm session strikes my mind and I’m at it again. Work. Work. Work. I wish I could say this little scene is fantasy, but in complete transparency this has been the typical evening of late at our humble abode.

I recently spoke with my dad about my work-hard, go-go-go mentality & the challenges I face maintaining a work life balance and he said “It’s partly my fault, you have my genes. You’re an over achiever”

“But, how did YOU do it then?” I asked with anticipation. After all, if anyone knows my dad he’s pretty much definition of “Father of the Year” award, so if he could work, and play, and be there for our family 24/7, then so could I.

My dad responded, without hesitation “I began to prioritize my life.” Yes, work was a commitment, but he filled up his schedule with other priorities like family dinner nights, coaching our sports teams, evening hoops with the boys, and vacations. Those were non-negotiables. He explained to me that he got to a point where he realized life — you know, really living — was what it’s all about. Everything else can wait.

The conversation we had inspired me to take a long, hard look at my life. I realized I’ve been making work a top priority, and in turn deprioritizing the things that are most important to me. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being driven, but it becomes an issue when your work things are taking complete control of your “me things.”

With that in mind, I decided to make a list of my desires…the things I wanted to be doing more of in life. The list included things like camping, pedicures + facials, grocery shopping with my husband, home-cooked meals, journaling, meditation + yoga, non-work related events, blogging, date nights and having a tidy apartment.

I thought, these are the things I needed to start re-prioritizing. These are the things that most fill me up + bring me the most joy.

I realized that by putting so much pressure on myself to be a superstar at work, I was subconsciously putting my passions on the back burner. And seeing as though my wellbeing and happiness are by far the most important things to me, this was not jiving with me.

So, what now? I know this is going to be a work in progress, but for starters I’m making a conscious effort to not check emails after 7:00pm. I’m also taking my husband up on his advice to “airplane mode my life” by turning my phone on airplane mode after a certain time. While I’m not quite ready to try that for a week straight, I am testing it out tonight — hence the time I now have to write a blog post!

With the time I gain back with this new mentality, I am going to fill it up with the things that bring me the most joy. I won’t lie, I’m pretty darn excited. Who’s with me?

I’d love to hear from you, are you working too much or spending too much time on something that doesn’t completely fill you up? What are your deepest desires you’d like to bring into your life?

xoxo,

Rachel