Sometimes getting organized and leading a balanced life is a lot easier said than done. All of us have both personal and professional obligations that need to be done everyday, all of which can get in the way of staying organized and balanced. Something that many people have in common that can get in the way of leading that elusive balanced life is the inability to simply say "no".
I realize that we can't say "no" to the boss, the customer or client, at least not too often, but there are times in our lives that we say "yes" when our minds are screaming "no, I can't do one more thing"! We often add to our already overloaded schedules, jobs like president of the PTA, coaching soccer, baby sitting, pet sitting, driving for that school field trip, taking a neighbor or friend to the doctor and so on. All of these things are worthy and useful jobs that should bring enjoyment and satisfaction. But sadly, for many people they just pile on more stress which in turn can create a stressed, out of balance and disorganized lifestyle that never seems to get better.
So what is the answer? Learning to know when you are at your limit is the first step to heading off this kind of stress and imbalance. For some that is easy, and the word "no", just rolls off their lips. But for many, they are well beyond the limit before they realize it and don't know how to paddle back sanity and balance. To learn your limits, take some time to assess what is already on your plate and really think about exactly when you started to feel out of control and out of balance. Can you handle daily responsibilities of work and home life? How many extra activities start to cause you to have to let things at home slide, or cut corners at work to get everything done.
Once you determine your limits, begin to divest yourself of the extra activities that make your life so chaotic. Be patient because sometimes it is a lot easier to take on duties than to get out of them. If work is the problem, it may be more difficult, so your personal life may have to simplified extensively to be able to manage the stress and imbalance.
Life balance of often discussed but rarely achieved completely. But life is too short to live doing things just because you can't say "no". I often suggest that my clients who struggle with doing too much, use the "good, better, best" test for every activity before jumping in. That is, measure every activity against your current goals, then ask yourself, "is this activity a good, better or best activity to move me toward my goal accomplishment?" When you realize that, even though an opportunity will fit into your schedule it may not get you closer to your goals, declining an opportunity is much easier.
Since we all know there is an App for everything, I did find an application on iTunes that will help you say "no" a little easier. I recommend this "tongue in cheek", but I was interested to find that enough people have a problem saying no, that someone felt the need to create an app. If you are interested it is called iNo and is probably perfect for you if you ever get angry with yourself because you are everyone's target because they know you will never say no. It's got over 1001 nice and not-so-nice ways to say "no" to just about anyone you can think of, even the boss. For a mere 99 cents you could be on the road to freedom!