Balanced Life? Are You Kidding?

September 26th, 2011 by Peggy Vinson

Have you ever felt like working for a non-profit and maintaining a balanced life might be mutually exclusive? We’ve all been there. Throughout my YMCA career years, I worked with a few staff members who spent a lot of time “blaming” the Y for their unbalanced life – problems with their spouse, kids out of control, long work hours, etc. I’d like to suggest that the balance of our lives is in our own control and no fault of our careers or any other outside force. The Y actually offered me more flexibility in managing my work and my family than other careers would have.

Recently, I found a bullet list I had developed during that time for a talk I was giving on the topic of proactively maintaining balance in life. I think the list applies to folks in any career. It’s a good reminder for me and I hope it might help some of you during this hectic budget time of year.

Peggy’s Rules For Maintaining Sanity While Enjoying Your Non-profit Career:

Go to church.
Work out.
Stop and take a deep breath… often.
Always take an evening to think things through before responding to heated issues.
Leave when it’s time. Nothing will fall apart because you went home.
When you are home… be home.
Focus on and truly listen to your family and friends.
Let your family and friends vent their own frustrations without always sharing yours at the same time.
You don’t have to share every work frustration when you get home. Leave it behind.
Remind yourself often why you started working for a non-profit in the first place.
Share the fun things about your job with your family and friends. Invite them to participate or visit.
Read something besides industry magazines!
Take time for something fun for yourself that is not work-related.
Carve out time and plan activities that you enjoy.
Remember to find the FUN at work and at home.

If all you share with others is what makes you angry about your job and/or the mission of your non-profit, then that’s all they will know. Talk about what made you feel good at work, what makes you proud, what you accomplished, the great you meet everyday, and share stories of those who benefit from the work you do.

If you share the proud moments, your family will understand the difficult moments as well… but more importantly… so will you!