The all important work/life balance

Last year I was lucky enough to take part in some professional development in the form of 'life coaching' with Wiremu Matthews.  Wiremu runs Kānuka Wellbeing & Leadership in Tauranga and we met every couple of weeks via zoom. 

"Wiremu is a Life Coach who focuses on coaching his clients to achieve optimal wellness on a holistic level, working with them to develop the mental, emotional and behavioural patterns required to create positive and sustainable change. Whatever the challenges they are facing, Wiremu has an innate ability to help his clients find their way though uncertainty, find clarity and move forward in life. One of his favourite quotes by David Bendar is “Ordinary people who consistently do small and simple things, can achieve extraordinary results”. His life coaching style aims to tackle challenges in this way, one small step at a time."

One of the most important things I learnt from Wiremu was the 15:3:1 system. 

In a nutshell this method aims to balance wairua/hinengaro - emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing by you doing the following:

• 15: something you do for 15 minutes EVERY day to promote your own wellbeing
• 3: something you do for 3 hours once a week (it needs to be a 3 hour block of time)
• 1: something you do for 1 day per month

We wrote 'Impact Statements' including the Purpose, Importance and Ideal Outcomes as well as  Success Criteria... there were a couple of sessions all about this but at the heart of it 15:3:1 kind of resonated with me.

While we were doing the 15:3:1 I changed mine around a bit to better meet my needs so I ended up doing:

• 15 minutes per day playing a game on my phone
• 3 hours on a Saturday morning sewing/quilting in my sewing room
• 1 day per month going geocaching

Then I stopped doing it... I got burnt out at the end of 2023... it was a pretty crappy time and I pretty much went into hibernation.  Then things changed in 2024... in fact there were a LOT of changes in 2024 and most of them were for the better.  

One thing I've really noticed though is that I can become very 'focused' on work if I'm not careful... it's really easy for me to forget to do things that bring me joy and happiness.  It's not hard for me to go from week to week without taking proper care of myself and I've been thinking about that a bit lately.

I've been thinking about getting more balance back into my life... so I've decided to give 15:3:1 another go... and this time I'm making it more real for me and how I want to live my life so this time I'm going with:

• 15 minutes a day journaling 
• Journaling is the practice of recording your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a journal. It can be a low-cost way to improve your mental health and can help you gain control of your emotions. Journaling can also be a tool for goal setting and tracking progress.  
•  3 hours on a Saturday morning doing something creative for myself
• Tapping into our innate creativity (yes, we all have it!) and unleashing our imagination can help with processing emotions, reducing anxiety, improving self-esteem, and boosting our overall mental health. More info HERE
• I didn't want to 'lock' myself into sewing and quilting so I'm leaving it open as 'something creative' that way I CAN do sewing or quilting but I could also do cardmaking... or photography.... or trying out icing nozzles making cupcakes... or my lastest thing... 3D printing!
  
• 1 day per month 'Getting Lost'
• I did consider geocaching because I really enjoy it... but I don't enjoy it as much on my own plus I wanted something that I would WANT to do and not put off so I bought myself a 'Getting Lost' pack - the Photography Edition HERE.
• I ordered the pack a couple of days ago and this morning it arrived and it's everything I was hoping it would be... high quality cards with great graphics and lots of ideas and options. It's exactly the sort of thing that appeals to me. 
  

• I'm also thinking it might be fun to save the photos from each month and make myself a little coffee table book (with each prompt on the photos) at the end of the year.
  

At this stage it just feels good to be taking care of me and giving myself the space and time I need to recharge... fill my bucket... and focus on the whole work/life balance aspect.