Balance advice?
 

So, with my journey and focus of losing 100+ pounds by March 18th 2013, School, College Applications, Learning how to cook, Focusing on driving better, Bringing my grades back to where they used to be, Job Applications, traveling all the time, and figuring out if when/if I should transfer colleges at some point to move on base with my fiancee who is leaving soon for the military, with the full confidence I can achieve all of these goals no problem, you may assume that this chica is fairly overwhelmed. Who has really good advice for balancing things in a healthy manner, while making sure goals are not being pushed aside, but achieved?

Any and all advice would be fantastic. Thank You!!

I easily get overwhelmed. This post is for me as well.
 

Here are thoughts I have. Hope it's not too preachy.

Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, lists habit number 3 as "Putting first things first." I keep this in mind when I feel overwhelmed. Decide what is priority and act accordingly. How badly do you want what you want????

Example of this for me is this: If I don't get exercise done in the morning, I'm more than likely to have trouble completing it for that day. Any other exercise I get done in that same day is bonus. My health is top priority. Many presidents find time to exercise - think how pressing a president's job is! No one else can exercise for them. ;)
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FOCUSED * FEASIBLE * FUN * FLEXIBLE
Ideas on how to integrate "life".

*FOCUSED*
Prioritize.
See above statement "Putting first things first.". Key in on what you need/want to do. Is there something that you can do another time/later? Or take off the list? This goes for daily, weekly & yearly goals.

Plan ~Be Clear & Specific.
Deadlines - make sure you have deadlines in your datebook/device. Work backward from deadlines to make feasible goals. Make your own deadlines with action goals. Then see how your week looks. Break your week down into days. Allow for Nothing Times -- total relaxation. This does not mean you have to have every single second "penciled" in. Personalize deadlines to meet what you want or need.

Give Full Attention & Do.
Focus on one Time Frame at a time. What I mean by this is: Give your full attention to the task at hand. Give your full attention to what you are doing and leave the other zillion "to-do's" out of mind. The other zillion tasks will have their time. After all, you set aside special times to get those zillion things accomplished.

Persist. Keep at it . . . Practice . . . Get back up. . .. Hang onto hope. . . Keep your eye on the prize. . .

*FEASIBLE*
Divide & Conquer.
A concept I keep in mind is, "Divide and Conquer". Amy on this forum reminded me of this concept.

How best to break down tasks that fit your needs? We use timers a lot around my house. For instance, we clean for 20 minutes or 10 minutes at a time during the week. On the weekend, we may do a bigger section of time to complete what was not accomplished.
You listed major goals. Break those down into "smaller bites".
Goals - Yearly to monthly to weekly/daily.

EXAMPLE: Learning how to cook healthy -> Those goals can be broken down into:
#1. Search & find recipe.
#2. Get ingredients
#3. Make Recipe
#4. If keeper, log recipe (File system, on computer????)
#5. If not keeper, start with #1 again.

Be Efficient.
And yet, what tasks can you do together? Memorize when walking (Used to be my favorite). Post motivational sayings and/or study notes around the house/apartment. As I do housework, I sneak in little exercises like squats (as I pick up laundry), run up/down steps when putting things away and so on.

"Know Thyself"
Be aware of your Strengths/Weaknesses. I learn from others, but I have to work with who I am. Do I need support? I gather people around for reinforcement - for accountability, for encouragement, for information and to share responsibility (when appropriate). I try to plan ahead for known weaknesses/dislikes & use strengths/likes for furthering my goals.

*FUN* - Try to find ways to have fun with difficult or "boring" tasks. This can be simple - by use of variety, challenges/games . .. and so on. Challenge yourself to complete a particular task. Reward yourself when you've accomplished a major task. Alternate types of tasks - Sitting / Active, Difficult / Easy and so on.

*FLEXIBLE* - Is it working? What other way can I get it done? Are my needs/wants or knowledge changed? Be willing to fine tune and/or change goals. Don't let pride get in the way. Remember to go with the bend in the road. That's is, be creative. Be willing to ask for ideas & help. (When having kids, this teaches you a lot about bending. I just found different ways to exercise.Playing with kids is one idea of using life's circumstances to be flexible.)

Ok - I really hope something here helps. This is an area that I continue to work on. I've been through various jobs & situations. I found out it all comes down to how I handle life. I do not have my life all together, but I believe I made great strides this last year.

You may be doing a lot of this already, but I'm sharing what approach helps me.

Best to you as you figure your life out. :)

balance
 

I am going through very similar problems with balance! I am about to move, applying to PhD programs, on top of a thousand personal responsibilities and relationship obligations so basically I know how you feel.

I haven't been that successful in balancing so far but I have been trying to say "no" more often when people ask me to do things or something for them. I have also been trying to be clear about my time limits without being rude (especially with friends). It is very hard to try and lose weight and eat right when you have too many obligations.

So my advice is to work on spreading out your obligations and trying to say "no" more often so you can give yourself space to think and work.

Any advice from others is much appreciated as I am still working on this balance thing as well!