In entertainment, it can be a hustle! I love working, picking up extra work, building my resume & enhancing my skills as a Dancer & Actor, and then learning even more trades! Additionally, there’s my love for videographer and growing with that, and lately it’s been a handful of recent inquiries for more film projects too! Who could say no if it’s work that you love, right?! This lifestyle of being go-go-go is super draining though… and while I can get pretty sucked up into my work, there’s times when you realize some pretty priceless benefits to working less and looking at the quality of your hours!
This past month since returning from Hawaii, I’ve been more intentional with my time and schedule, and feel a nice work vs. life balance that I haven’t felt in a really long time! Before sharing how I’ve done this and the pros to it, I’ve gotta say that although I love this feeling right now – another busy season will soon be upon us but I think with enough planning I can keep this little blissful balance! Just being intentional with planning around work and looking ahead 2-3 weeks out makes a huge difference, and I think no matter how busy work can be, we can still have a sweet spot for work vs. life balance.
MY LAST MONTH IN A NUTSHELL…
The waves at Ho’okipa Beach were breathtaking! Much larger than what we’re used to in FL hah! I was out of my comfort zone but was (photo by our good friend @jamskycam)
Maui’s Haleakala Volcano: Elevation 10,000ft !!
We spent 12 Days in MAUI!! After adventuring & attending a wedding in Maui and then exploring the whole island (future post all about Hawaii coming soon), we returned home and then the work life balancing act began. A lot of special occasions were in the plans but I also needed to meet my contract, dancing at Universal…
An old friend paid her annual visit to Florida! The weekend after returning from Hawaii – I learned how to wake surf with all the girls while at a family lake house!
…and Lauren got us all these shirts for the occasion!
Spending time with one of my oldest friends who has a little boy on the way was so special! She lives on the gorgeous Oregon coast, but it’s SO remote that her spotty reception doesn’t always allow us to chat. Check out her gorgeous mountain + sea living @grizzlymountainwomen
Then last weekend was Chris’ birthday!! I arranged for us all to go do the bioluminescent kayaking tour that Saturday night! We were SO READY, but then this lightning storm came through and our tour got scrubbed. Fortunately enough, Chris was racing us back to the hotel to fire up his drone and captured these AMAZING LIGHTNING PHOTOS while we all hung out at our seaside hotel watching the storm roll in…
The morning after the storm, we killed some time at the beach before heading back inland to do a delicious cookout with the rest of the family
BUT WHILE ENJOYING ALL THIS TIME WITH LOVED ONES, LEARNING NEW THINGS, AND CELEBRATING SPECIAL MOMENTS – I WAS STILL WORKING MY NORMAL HOURS AT UNIVERSAL!
BENEFITS OF WORK VS. LIFE BALANCE
1. TIME TO REFLECT & GAIN MENTAL CLARITY OF YOUR WORK
Being away from the daily grind definitely offers time to reflect on your work! It’s a moment to step away and look at your work and it’s level of fulfillment in life – plus the work that you want to do in the future! For me, I realized I’ve been neglecting this blog – and even writing in my journal thats conveniently at my bedside! So I already have a page of topics & video concepts in store and hope to roll out in the coming months, so stay tuned.
2. RECONNECT TO REALITY AND BIG PICTURE GOALS
This one might make more sense if you commute or have a physical work location.. but being away from work let’s me recognize my work bubble isn’t the most important thing in life. Do you ever start realizing the small stuff at work bugs you? That’s probably a good sign you need a break to get out of the work bubble. Also, nurture your relationships within your reality, not just the ones on social media. I think social media gets a bad rap these days but its done so much for businesses, entrepreneurs, free-speech, etc that it has a positive side as well! Social media is what you make it, and we also make decisions everyday to take control of it and configure what we want and don’t want to see. I’ve managed to nurture a lot of long distance relationships via Instagram and Facebook, so it’s been awesome personally! When I say real relationships, we must nurture the ones closest to us and its totally okay to do that through social media… just good judgement on where you spend your time. Fun fact, a strong sense of community & friendships is one of the key things for a long life!
3. GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH YOUR PHYSICAL WELLBEING
I found that in my line of work, my body definitely needs time to recover & heal after dancing a lot! However, periods of time when I’m just sitting and working on a video project, I also don’t feel good either – more like a sack of potatoes! There’s no way you can be productive at work without also being in a healthy physical state! Take this time away from work to discover a new exercise plan, even just 10-20 minutes a day, to get your body moving and slowly change it up from there. It’s so distracting when my body doesn’t feel well or even when I simply haven’t been following a healthy skincare routine. Plan out your weekly meals too, even if its just a few meals per day. Get one of my $30 and under: weekly plant-based meal plans as I’m making an ebook of these! It saves me a ton of money and guides me on what to eat for the week! Subscribe at the bottom for my email about this and be the first to hear about it when it goes on sale.
Theres always going to be seasons of a lot of work then slow seasons, but there’s a way to take control of your life and schedule so life doesn’t take control of you. Planning ahead with a good calendar app that you can see the entire month (and preview the days) is golden for me!! I love Google calendar or Calendars. And when I need a last minute getaway I always check out Airbnb for a little daycation throughout Florida or even a longer getaway out of town! If you use a new Airbnb account, you can get a $40 credit on your first stay with this link!!
Have you ever felt in a rut and then gotten out of it? How did you go about doing that and what things in life make you feel a nice balance when you’ve been working too hard? I love comments + input, so leave them below to spread some more love on this topic!!
xoxo
Rachel
This polaroid frame has been through a lot, but I had to! haha
