Balance: When You're Wearing Multiple Hats

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
Albert Einstein

by Skip Cohen

We've all heard the expression, "wearing many hats." It refers to multitasking and having a lot of different responsibilities at the same time. No matter who you are or what you do, you wear a lot of hats.

I've been really busy lately. Recently I've noticed a delicate balance between projects and the roles I play on each one. But as much as I complain when I have a lot to do, I love it! When I'm busiest, my creativity ramps up to meet the challenges, and I'm like the energizer bunny.

But my point is making sure I have balance between my goals and the time to accomplish whatever is on my "to do" list. What too often happens is I get to a point where something simply has to give. It's like slowing down when driving in heavy traffic.

Here's a perfect example - I was supposed to have lunch today with a good buddy. We haven't caught up in a long time, and I love catching up over lunch. To comfortably meet a couple of deadlines on other projects, I had to postpone lunch to next week. He understood completely, but that's also what friendship is all about. Again, it's all about balance.

Melody Beattie wrote:

The goal is balance. We need balance between work and play. We need balance between giving and receiving. We need balance in thought and feelings. We need balance in caring for our physical self and our spiritual self.

A balanced life has harmony between a professional life and a personal life. There may be times when we need to climb mountains at work. There may be times when we put extra energy into our relationships. But the overall picture needs to balance.

Just as a balanced nutritional diet takes into account the realm of our nutritional needs to stay healthy, a balanced life takes into account all our needs; our need for friends, work, love, family, play, private time, recover time, and spiritual time - time with God. If we get out of balance our inner voice will tell us. We need to listen.

And for those of you who feel God doesn't belong in a business blog post, get over it. Feel free to substitute whatever you believe in. The point is to pay attention to your inner voice. It's about focus and maintaining the priorities with each hat you wear.

What I love most about Friday is that its the gateway to the weekend and a time when I can take off a few of my hats and put more time into more personal things. Again, it's back to finding balance.

Wishing everybody a great weekend ahead and time to align your priorities while recharging your battery for next week. And if you're a wedding photographer and working this weekend, you already know about the importance of balance as your weekend moves a couple of days later.

  The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you've lost it.
Anonymous