I’m sure you all are aware that blogging & teaching fitness are not my only “jobs” (a girl can dream!), but today I thought it would be interesting to talk about how I balance it all: “real” work, teaching at multiple gyms, hosting my own events, blogging, cooking, being a good wife/friend/family member/cat mom… oh yeah- and trying to relax a bit, too.

(Positano during our honeymoon- most amazing trip & hotel- couldn’t have been more relaxed!)

I’ll be honest with you- it ain’t always easy! And there have certainly been times where I’ve felt completely overwhelmed because of how much I have going on. However, these days, even though this still does happen occasionally, overall I feel like I have figured out a pretty good balance with everything. Want to know why?

I’ve learned how to say no and I’ve learned how to figure out my priorities when it comes to how I want to spend my time.

At the end of the day, we all have only 24 hours in the day, so for me, it’s all about prioritizing my events/work/sleep/rest/etc. You’ll rarely hear me say “I don’t have time for that”, but rather, I may say that I’m choosing to spend my time elsewhere or that because of X, Y, & Z, I have less time than usual and had to push something aside. I used to try and do it all, all the time, but I found myself getting really burned out and generally unhappy. I didn’t really know who I was because I was always saying “yes” (even if I had no interest in what I was saying yes to) and always packing my schedule with as many things as possible.

Luckily, with the help of RM (my amazing husband), I’ve figured out a pretty good balance. Some weeks it’s better than others, but those weeks where I over-pack my schedule are a good reminder that that lifestyle is just not for me anymore. Here are a few ways I balance things out to keep me sane & happy:

• Prioritize eating well – this may mean food shopping or meal prepping when I don’t want to, but ultimately the time I spend doing that (I’ve also learned how to shorten this A LOT!) will help me throughout the week. Plus, eating the good foods that we cook/prepare makes me feel better!
• Prioritize sleep– I like to be in bed for 8 hours. End of story. I can work off of less sleep, but I know I can’t sustain that because I’ll feel worn out and likely get sick.
• Plan my workouts & figure out my teaching schedule- This is especially critical if I have a lot of classes on the schedule because it means I need to find time for my own workouts (I don’t really “do” the workouts with my classes- just leading & demo’ing & jumping around) and figure out what days would be best to rest. I also have to take into account what after-work non-teaching plans I have and if my day allows for me to go to the gym during lunch or if I should do it before work.
• Realistically think about how much blogging I can do- I used to stress if I didn’t have 3-5 blog posts published each week, but have realized that no one is holding me accountable for that besides me. And, since it’s not a real job (doesn’t pay me money), it makes the most sense to push it to the back burner on busy weeks. I’d rather spend the extra time hanging out with RM while we have dinner and watch TV.
• Figure out when to say no. It can be hard to see friends getting together or other bloggers/fitness instructors going to classes or events together (hello, FOMO!), but I’m getting better at focusing on ME and what I’M doing and enjoying that rather than over-committing just to avoid FOMO. Wednesdays are my only “free” night without teaching so as tempting as it is to commit to things on that day, what I really want/need most of the time is to have a free night to do whatever the heck I feel like doing. Shopping after work, going to a class after work that I really want to go to, going home after work and blogging, going home after work and doing nothing, meeting up for drinks… having a night where I can do what I want is so good for me mentally!
• And lastly, giving myself a freaking break and realizing I don’t have to do it all. For a recovering perfectionist, this is hard! But I’m getting better at it every day.

Each week requires something different out of me and being able to go with the flow by embracing the slower weeks and breathing through the busier weeks is really key for me to have balance and not feel stressed or overwhelmed all the time.

I’d love to hear from you guys- do you find you’re able to balance work/life/play or do you find yourself in situations where you’re continuously overwhelmed by how much you’ve said “yes” to? Do you have a hard time saying “no”, or are you able to easily pick and choose what you want to do? I’m always looking for more insight on this so I’d love to hear your thoughts!