Tips to maintain balance in life

Last updated: December 5, 2024

This post was written by Mady Keller, a member of ThriveSMH. She shares some of her favourite tips for maintaining balance in life.

Friends. Work. Family. Extracurriculars. Yourself. Culture. Community. Responsibilities at home. School. These are just some of the things that people might be balancing their time between. Finding balance amongst all the factors in your life is important to staying well.

Finding time for everything can sometimes feel overwhelming or even impossible. There might be times, like during exams, where more of your time is spent on one aspect of your life (school), meaning less time is spent on other things. Here are some strategies to help you find and maintain your balance.

Everybody’s balance looks different and it’s important that you find the strategies that work for you. Hopefully some of these ideas will be helpful for you.

Name what you value most. For me, some of the things I value are family, school, and extracurriculars. It can be helpful to name what is more important to you to help guide your decisions.

Prioritize your time. I like to use the stoplight method. I make a list of all the things that are coming up and colour-code them. Green tasks are the most urgent or important. Yellow tasks are less urgent or important than green. Red tasks are the least urgent or important. I then start by accomplishing the green tasks before moving onto then yellow, and then the red.

I use this list for all the things I must complete. Things like going for a run, doing the dishes, and unpacking my bag all go on the list as well as my schoolwork. I keep this list in the Lists To Do app on my phone.

Limit your screen time. A digital detox doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Even decreasing the time spent on your device can be helpful. While limiting my screen time, I still like to listen to podcasts and music in the background instead of watching movies or videos. During busy times, I’ll delete the Instagram app off my phone to take a break from it, and then re-download it when I’m ready to use it again. I will also use the timers built into my phone to help regulate the amount of time I spend on social media platforms.

For more on taking a break from devices, check out:

• Digital detox: How to unplug and recharge (Kids Help Phone)
• Managing social media fatigue (School Mental Health Ontario)

Establish boundaries. Boundaries are crucial to finding your balance.^{1, 2} It’s okay to say “no.” No one can do it all. For example, if you have to say no to a new responsibility or task, you could say something like, “No, I have too many commitments right now, and I can’t do that”. Sometimes, I say, “No, not right now,” or “No, I’m not comfortable with that right now” when more is asked of me.

Boundaries are not just with people or tasks. You could also set boundaries with your time. Staying up super late each night doing homework when your school day starts early the next morning is hard on your body and brain. For example, when studying, I will not study past 9:30 p.m. each night because I know that if I don’t get a good night’s sleep the night before a test, I won’t do my best.

Remember that rest is productive. When considering the boundaries around your time, build in time for breaks and rest. This can be taking time for family and friends or spending time by yourself. Even when you’re busiest, try taking a 5-minute vacation. A 5-minute vacation refers to taking a short break from your day and schedule.³ Take time to just be yourself, daydream, or close your eyes and rest. Getting a good night’s sleep before a test is one way that rest is productive for me.

Enjoy the moment. Enjoying the moment means focusing on the now; letting go of the future tasks or stressors, even just for a moment. This can look like appreciating and being present for time with family and friends, practicing mindfulness, or grounding yourself. I like to enjoy the moment by taking a break in nature. Growing up on an island, I have always found comfort being near the water. When I’m taking a break and sitting near water, I will pause and listen to the sounds around me, focusing on the lapping of waves or the whoosh of the wind in the trees.

For more strategies on staying present in the moment, check out these grounding techniques (School Mental Health Ontario).

Make the time: Making the time for the people and things you love is at the core of having a balanced life.² For me, face-to-face contact with the people I love is a part of having a balanced life, but living in a rural community means that isn’t always doable! This is why communication through text, calls, or social media is a great way for me to stay connected. I personally have a routine to stay connected with family and friends. At least once a day, I try to send a text to people I want to catch up with.

Just as it is important to make time for the people in your life, it is also valuable to make time for the things you like doing. I like to spend time reading, being outside, running, and driving the side-by-side. These activities both refresh me and nurture my physical and mental health.

Being a student is busy, especially with managing the other roles in your daily life. Writing this blog made me realize all the different ways to maintain balance. From spending time with family and friends to taking a break from social media, I hope that this also helps you gain some strategies for maintaining balance in your own life.