Ditch The Concept of Daily or Even Weekly Balance!
Vol. 018
Why Graphic Designers and Artists Should Ditch The Concept of Daily or Even Weekly Balance!
The imperative shift in your perspective and approach to balance could be a game changer for your happiness and overall creative career satisfaction.
A quick bite:
For years I’ve preached the importance of balance. I think most people can agree that a “work life balance” is an admirable goal. However, today I’m here to push the idea of LIFE balance, not just DAILY balance.
Continue reading below…
I’ve spent the good majority of the past 6 years preaching the need for balance. There is a seemingly obvious benefit to a strong balance of “work” and “play” in one’s life. If you fill one cup, you’re able to more easily transfer over and fill the other. Generally speaking, I think that most of us could agree that balance is important.
Seen through the eyes a creative individual—a photographer, freelance graphic designer, hand lettering artist, travel blogger, painter— balance is oftentimes pursued as a daily or weekly goal. We try to mould our days and weeks to live in a perpetual state of balance and harmony.
Welp, I’m here to mix up the pot. Today, I’m here to encourage you to ostracize the romanticized day-to-day balance, and I’m here to sing praises to leaning into the extremes, or the notion that embracing “seasons of life” is a better, more sustainable way to achieve long-term balance.
What if we look at the pursuit of balance as a much bigger picture pursuit? What if all things in life were seen as seasons—some lasting longer or shorter than others—that over time, add up to a “balanced few years” or “ a balanced life?”
Maybe you have a few hard party years, a few hard working years, a few years where you don’t really exercise, and a few years where you do. Over time, embracing each of these seasons in their entirety adds up to a holistically balanced life.
When you’re not always “pursuing balance” you’re able to embrace uninterrupted periods of sustained attention, deep work or focus, and this allows for larger strides forward in whatever it is that you’re doing. The last 2–3 years were a season of life in which I worked a lot. And that work paid off — I’ve seen substantial strides forward in my business in recent years. However, years prior, I invested a good deal of my time, attention and energy in traveling as much as possible.
With each of these seasons, I’m not suggesting that I didn’t find time for other things in life. During my travel-seasons, I also pursued hand lettering.
During my heavy work years, I also made time for things like training and running across the Grand Canyon.
But, overall, to eschew the idea of balance on a daily basis in these instances allows you to guilt-free lean into whatever you’re interested in, enabling you to thrive in a particular facet of life. I also believe that infusing these different life interests into your work will make you a more talented creative.
It’s worth noting that the idea of balance isn’t necessary for all! Some — myself included — find immense satisfaction in work. Doing the work is fulfilling in many different ways, and there is no perception of being “out of balance” when working long days, weeks or years. So, don’t feel like you need to be balancing something out if you already feel nicely aligned!
COVID forced me to reprioritize a lot of things, and this reprioritization made me realize I was ready for a new season. Ironically, this new season has been a pretty “balanced season” in itself. For the first time since my full time job in 2014, I’ve been working basically 9-5, and I make a lot of time for exercise, (socially distant) beers with friends, and getting further settled into my new home.
I’m enjoying this new season that is generally balanced in itself, as I’m sure I will be embracing a wild extreme here soon in the future.
Enjoy your work week, I hope its super unbalanced, in the best of ways.
