Some people’s lives seem to be all work and no play. They complain about having no time to visit friends or do their favourite things, but they never set time aside to do them. Others seem to be able to do it all! They enjoy their jobs, spend their spare time with family and friends, and have lots of special interests. Is it just luck that some people can do everything they want and others are not?

Just think about this: we all have 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week.

No person has any more time than another. How is it that some people appear to do so much and some so little? Granted, people have varying degrees of commitments to work, family and friends, but is it not our attitudes that primarily determine how we choose to use the time we have?

Knowing there is a positive value to leisure, we will include it in our lives. However, little time we have, regularly setting aside some time each day leads to the expectation of having that leisure time. By planning, we make time available to use; however, we choose.

When we feel that there is so much work to do – either at home or in one’s workplace – we tend to find it easy to become obsessed with our work. But we don’t have to feel that we have to be superhumans to balance our lives or that only very wealthy or organized people find time for leisure.

What balancing work and play involves is:
– knowing which activities are a priority? Being able to plan our time around them? enjoying those activities to the fullest

It means taking charge to charge ourselves. Some of us may feel as if we are on a hectic treadmill and are asking, “how do I get off this thing?” Here is one way to examine our quality of life with some suggested steps for balancing work and play.

Steps to Balancing Work and Play

Put on the brakes; stop everything. Look at what is happening in your life at home and work.

Answer some of the following questions:
– Are my needs being met (personal, intellectual and spiritual)?
– Are my values being fulfilled?
– What can/will I give up to find a balance?

If you’re striving for health, happiness and peace of mind, are you on the right track for achieving those goals? 3. Establish some priorities as to what would make your life fuller, more productive and more rewarding. Ask yourself:
– What do I want to be doing with my work time and free time?
– How would I best like to renew myself and build up my positives?

As a start, review the priorities you’ve established for work by re-examining your responses to the My Beliefs and Values about Work survey.

Second, try My Leisure Priorities and Goals survey.

Put together an action plan to follow through with the priorities you’ve established. Your action plan will involve making some changes.

Establishing Leisure Priorities

Are there certain recreational activities you’ve meant to become
involved in, but for some reason have not? If you ‘d like to assess a particular part of your lifestyle to see how much positive value you are getting out of leisure, try the My Leisure Priorities and Goals survey on this site. The study is an opportunity for you to step back and take a closer look at what’s happening or not happening during your leisure hours, and what steps you ‘d like to take to make positive changes.

Setting aside some time each day or week or month for those activities we enjoy and want to include should help us achieve our goals. Consider how you operate best and are most likely to bring about the change—planning time to add other people. Or maybe scheduling ourselves into specific classes or activities will free us.

We will find our leisure time satisfying and active just as we find our work satisfying and positive if whatever we do:
– enjoyable
– reflects who we are
– allows us to be who we want to be

Satisfaction comes from leading a meaningful life, not merely doing useful work. To satisfy our needs, we must set limits for ourselves and live by our notions of life success. Many people may not find their jobs especially tricky, but they accept the fact that their jobs allow them to live their lives the way they want, so each day they can do their jobs and then leave them behind.