In so many places, I have come across the importance of 'balance' - having a 'balanced' diet, a 'balance' between social life and work life and more generally the balance of sleep, social life and work. Whilst of course it is important that we are being careful not to overdo one and therefore burn out, I have come to realise that using this word can be a little misleading. When you think of balance, you think of equal. Yet when it comes to life, it's very difficult that you are going to get everything exactly equal.

There will be some moments, where things inevitably will be unequal. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Especially, if you are coming to a point where you need to work hard during a period of time as the goal you want to achieve comes closer. For example, in my case as a student when it comes to exam season, my social life and work balance isn’t equal and is more weighted on the work side. Because in order to achieve what I aim for academically, I need to spend more time and effort during certain periods of time.

But more than that, I'm not sure the whole idea of balance is what necessarily works best or is feasible. There are some things which naturally take more of your time than others and this is dependent on different factors. For example, the priority something has in your life, or how difficult or easy you find something. You might find a certain task harder and therefore need to spend more time and effort working on it in order to get it to the same standard as something you find easier.

I often come across the idea of balance, promoting almost this 'perfect' ideal that everything in life should be equal and that this equates to happiness. I think that trying to live up to this idea of balance is unrealistic and not necessarily one which will make you feel happy. It is important to make sure you have time off and that you are looking after yourself. However, I am personally letting go of this expectation that all aspects of my life should be equal. There will be some days which are productive, some which are not. Some where I will rest, others where I will be working more and days out with people I love. We don't need to do this equally, but rather in ways that work for us.