Work-Life Balance, A Myth Or A Reality?
Updated: Apr 11, 2022
Written by: Alejandra Beatriz Marqués Méndez, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Have you ever dreamed of having a work-life balance?
If so, what do you consider balance to look like?
There’s the common misconception that balance means having a perfect distributed proportion of hours during the days, let’s say 50% work / 50% personal every single day.
If we consider that as the definition, probably work-life balance is a myth.
However, if we look at the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary definition of balance, it is “a situation in which different things exist in equal, correct, or good amounts”.
Now with this conception of balance, I firmly believe that we can have work-life balance.
It is not about trying to have that 50/50 proportion, but actually having quality time in both and being intentional on how we use our time.
Why is it so hard to find that balance?
There are 4 main factors that are not allowing you to have more balance in your life, and these are not what you probably think:
Not knowing how to properly prioritize.
Letting distractions run your schedule.
Limiting beliefs about what’s possible.
Repeating old patterns over and over again.
How can you start having more balance?
The first thing you need to have more work-life balance is changing your mindset about it. You’ve probably lived your whole life thinking that it was a myth and not something you could have. If you keep thinking that way, you’re going to be your number one obstacle.
The second thing you should work on is learning how to own your time, not only managing it, but actually taking control over it and prioritizing the things that actually matter the most to you.
As I always say to my clients, you would be surprised how easy it is to gain control over your time once you start working on it.
Alejandra Beatriz Marqués Méndez, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Alejandra Marqués Méndez is a former criminal law professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and project manager turned founder of Your Plan A. She is the go-to Productivity and Balance Mentor for entrepreneurs and business owners alike. Alejandra's expertise has been featured in publications including Entrepreneur, Yahoo Finances, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Medium, Authority Magazine, Thrive Global, Brainz, and more. She is the best-selling author of the book “From Burned Out To Unstoppable. A Guide To Becoming Your Most Productive And Balanced Self”. Alejandra has worked with organizations, business owners, and entrepreneurs worldwide to increase productivity, improve time management skills, achieve goals and work-life balance, and more—all through using her signature T.I.M.E Method. By the age of 27, with over 8 years of experience studying for two degrees, Business Management and Law (and graduating top of her class from both), 2 masters, working at the same time (notaries, law firms, research centers...), and still have time to learn six languages (Spanish, English, French, German, Catalan, and Chinese), and having quality time with her loved ones, she is an expert when it comes to productivity and achieving big goals while having a personal life. Her mission is to empower driven female entrepreneurs to accomplish a year's worth of goals in 90 days, wear all the hats without burning out, eliminate distractions & procrastination, have more balance, and create more time for the things that matter the most to them.
