How to Balance Your Life, Part Two

This three-part series entitled "How to Balance Your Life" goes into detail about how I get stuff done while juggling all the different aspects of my existence. If you haven't read part one yet, either scroll down or go here.

Ready? Okay, here we go. This week, as promised, I'll go over the circle at the top right, which represents "Home." According to science-y articles and books that I've read, humans are social creatures and need to interact with other humans. We also need, for whatever reason, things like food, water, clothing, and shelter. Thus, this "Home" section is divided up into the following three sections: friends, family, and household.

Lighting up the "friends" section means basically what you would guess it means, which is having contact with people you get along with (unless you guessed that it meant binge-watching reruns of the TV series Friends, in which case you're only sort of correct). Writing is a solitary activity, so for me, there could be days in which I don't actually see any of my friends in person. So that's where social media comes in. Or texting. Or email. Or even an ancient activity known as "calling on the phone." This section can also encompass - gasp - dating-related activities, like swiping right, making awkward small talk with the barista, or chastising yourself for not having the courage to make small talk with the barista (only kidding about that last one. Mostly.)

Moving on! Whereas lighting up the "friends" section means having contact with people you get along with (or could theoretically get along with, if only they would give you their phone number), lighting up the "family" section means having contact with people you don't get along with. Again, I am kidding. Mostly. In my case, this includes taking care of and hanging out with my kids (who, by the way, I do get along with) and my cats (who I get along with 70-75% of the time). For other people, this can include having a date night with your spouse, or playing golf with your siblings.

Finally, lighting up the "household" section means doing all the little things you need to do to maintain your place of residence and everything associated with it, from taking out the rubbish to buying new socks. For me, most of the daily activities in this area (e.g. washing dishes, scooping out the litter box) are on auto-pilot, so I just have a list of the more sporadic tasks - grocery shopping, mowing the lawn - that I'll consult to see if any of them need doing on a particular day.

And there you have it! Two of the circles on the Life Compass have been lit up, so you're well on your way to having a balanced and productive day. Next week, I'll finish up this little trilogy by going over the top left circle, which represents, for lack of a better word, "Work."

Haven't started reading any of the books in the Joel Suzuki series yet? That's okay, I still consider you my friend since you're here, reading this blog. But still, you might want to check them out. Why? Because they're fun, and because for every Joel Suzuki book that is sold, I donate one dollar to Autism Empowerment.

Joel Suzuki, Volume One: Secret of the Songshell
Joel Suzuki, Volume Two: Mystery of the Moonfire
Joel Suzuki, Volume Three: Legend of the Loudstone