Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Meaning Beyond Work

It can be a challenging feat to create balance for yourself beyond work and personal responsibilities. Often, they all just feel like work.

Guide Magazine

By Darren Shearer, CLAC Foundation Director

Our work can be comforting in many ways, therapeutic even. It’s a place we can go where our tasks, goals, and focus is clear and comprehensive. It can be a place to escape whatever may be going on in our personal lives.

Work can easily become our highest priority, the sole purpose and source of meaning in our lives. We can experience a sense of community through the work we do and the people we work alongside.

All of this can be healthy and of benefit to our mind and body. But we must remember to keep our priorities in check and try to establish boundaries and balance.

Do you have meaning outside of your work? Many of us have families, friends, hobbies, clubs, and communities that we belong to, unrelated to our careers. But these core areas can be demanding as well and compete for our energy.

Many of us understand the importance of relaxation, of simply existing without the urgency of anything grappling for our attention. Relaxing can take place in many different forms: cooking, gardening, watching TV, playing video games, reading a book, or listening to music.

Physical activities can also be considered relaxing, although adding them as a form of “relaxation” to our already busy lives sometimes can be quite demanding in itself. How do we sort this all out?

7 Ways to Create Balance in Your Hectic, Ever-Changing Schedule

Clarify your priorities. Identify your top priorities, and use them as a filter and reference on how to spend your time and energy.
Create time blocks in your day. Divide your day and priorities into blocks: work, family, self care, chores, etc. Be sure to schedule personal time, even something as simple as going for a walk on your lunch break or finding a quiet space to sort through your thoughts.
Learn how to set boundaries, deal with guilt, and share responsibilities. Don’t try and do it all. Check activities against your priorities, stick to what you are realistically capable of doing, and do not try to do more constantly. Let go of the guilt of saying no to a request.
Reduce decision-making fatigue. Use tools such as digital calendars, reminders, or meal planning apps. And don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Limit multitasking. Focus on the task at hand. If you are at work, focus on work. If you are with family, focus on family.
Evaluate and adjust regularly. Do self check-ins, weekly or monthly. What’s working? What isn’t? Balance is dynamic, not fixed.
Protect your peace. You don’t need to explain or apologize for protecting your peace. Make it a conscious choice to stick to your schedule to create space. Limit yourself to a reasonable number of obligations.

If you don’t create space for balance in your life, your body will inconveniently create it for you—usually in the form of illness. Pay attention to what you are feeling and what you are focusing your energy on. Doing so will not only benefit you, but it will also benefit everyone around you.

Meaning Beyond Work

7 Ways to Create Balance in Your Hectic, Ever-Changing Schedule

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