Being a desi girl is hard enough, but trying to balance school or a corporate job with a side hustle can make it much more challenging. On top of the normal obligations you have in life, you are also trying to get ahead and live a life that you are proud of. So, in this blog post, I will give some tips on work-life balance and how to do it all without overwhelming yourself.
Brain Dump
Before you start anything, write out everything on your mind, from tasks you need to get done to business ideas you want to start. Whether it is filing taxes for your parents, buying them something from Amazon, or doing laundry, get it out of your brain and onto a sheet of paper. This is the first step towards work-life balance because it frees up your mental capacity to start thinking and accomplishing, rather than just trying to remember everything.
Organize Your Goals
You also want to start organizing your goals by those that you want to work on now, and those that you want to accomplish in the future. You can also categorize it by work obligations, family tasks, and personal work that needs to be done. We often overwhelm ourselves by wanting to do it all, so take a step back and first see what might be feasible based on the time and resources you have. If work is a bit demanding, you may only have time to prioritize your health and family. Be realistic about this.
Focus One Thing a Day
The best way to approach work-life balance is by focusing on one main goal each day. The majority of the day is taken up by our corporate job, so realistically, we only have time for one goal each day. To find balance, set up a schedule. For example, Mondays are my content creation day while Wednesdays are for editing and uploading. Tuesdays and Thursdays go towards working out and meal prepping while Fridays and the weekend are for friends, family, hobbies, and courses. This way you don’t have to worry about everything every day. Instead, you have days allocated to each goal.
Routines are Your Friend
Trying to balance work with your best friend’s wedding coming up means you need to be organized. The best way to find some work-life balance is to keep up with routines. Try to sleep around the same time every day and wake up around the same time. Maybe it’s calling your mom at 4 pm every day or having a night skincare routine. Routines are like rituals. They help create structure and help us find peace in the craziness of life. It’s why our parents love their chai time at exactly 5 pm every day (and also because chai is addicting but still).
Finish Your Tasks and Be Done
In the work-hard society that is rooted in South Asian culture, we are taught that without hard work there will be no success. Although this is true to some extent, we also need to find a balance in it all. Another approach to finding work-life balance is to create a list of tasks for the day. When you are done with the tasks, you are done for the day. Don’t keep going because you have all this free time and if you don’t use it you’ll feel like you are not working hard enough. This mindset is engraved in your brain, and it’s time to stop. When you finish your tasks you tell your brain that you had a productive day and that it can relax now. What you’ll realize is that you are in a better mood and more creative the next day. Why? Because you let yourself recharge instead of getting burnt out.
Final Thoughts
Being a desi girl is hard, I completely agree. But there are ways we can make it work while balancing everything that we want to do. From finding the dream career to finding the right shade of foundation, there are plenty of things to get done. The next time you are looking for some work-life balance remember to take a step back, write things down, and focus on one area of goals at a time. Now, go each that gulab jamun, because gulab, you deserve it 🙂
With love,
Aditi <3
Aditi Rani – Figuring Out Life in Your Twenties
*Disclaimer: This is not professional advice. Some links are affiliate. By clicking and/or purchasing, I may receive a commission. It does not alter the price or change your buyer experience.