I (along with most people I know) have spent my entire adult life trying to figure out a healthy work/life balance.  If I am going to be completely honest, I have struggled with this from age 12.  Lately, this issue has been one that I have thought about a lot both personally and professionally.

When I shifted from classroom teaching to administration, I quickly realized that if I didn’t make time with family, friends, and those activities that refresh my spirit a priority, that I could very easily spend all of my time on work concerns.  There is always something that can be done, an initiative to brainstorm and plan, a conversation to be had.  Now, this is not to say that when I taught I didn’t feel this way.  I did, but I depended on school breaks for this release.  I knew this wasn’t healthy; but it was the way I organized my leisure time.

In several conversations that I have had recently with both the Student Life Team and my teaching colleagues, this work/life balance is a pain point for our students as well.  When life balance is out of whack, students get sick, stressed, anxious, and depressed.  We are seeing this more and more.  How can we help our students address this issue in their own lives?  The answer isn’t clear.  One thing that I have heard over and over is that we can’t help our students prioritize their lives when we don’t do it ourselves.  How do I talk to a struggling, stressed student about the importance of scheduling time with friends, if I haven’t talked to my friends in any real way for months?  How do I encourage an anxious student about the importance of pursuing hobbies and enjoyable activities if I haven’t knit a stitch on my latest work in progress in three weeks?

I am not sure what the answer is or if a perfect work/life balance is always possible, but working on the question is important.  It is important if for nothing else, it reminds me that this is vital if we are going to remain healthy in mind, body, and spirit.  We can’t forget that to affect change in our students’ lives, we need to make this change in our lives.  So, what about you?  How do you work through this question?

(Pictures taken on the Black Diamond Trail, Clayton side.  Beautiful run and/or hike for those looking to enjoy nature.)