Maintaining a Balance of Focus in Your Life: Mind, Body, and Soul

I was talking to one of my best friends recently about the importance of maintaining balance in your life. Many people I know get so focused on one aspect of personal development and wellness that they tend to ignore the others. I think we all know someone like this. There's the person who spends all of their time at the gym and checking the nutrition facts on every bite of food they take, but they don't make time for reading, career development, learning new things, or doing hobbies that they enjoy. There's the person who spends all of their time working, doing things for their jobs even when they are at home late at night, and looking for more ways to develop their career, but they hardly spend any time with their family, friends, or partner, often feeling lonely, depressed, and letting their relationships sit on the back burner of their life. I think everyone at one point or another has felt like they were dumped by a friend because their friend got into a new relationship or moved in with their partner and suddenly didn't have time for friends or family anymore, choosing to spend all their free time with their romantic partner. We also all realize that at one point or another we have probably done one of these things ourselves because creating a well balanced life is hard work.

I can't act like an expert here. In fact, I'm often one of the worst offenders. When I did my best studying was when I made sure to spend nearly all my free time studying and barely had any time left over to focus on making sure my house was clean, my errands were done, that I was spending enough time doing things I enjoy with my loved ones, etc. When I focus on giving my all at work, school, and taking care of my household, I tend to realize I've gone weeks at a time without seeing my friends or family. When I focus on eating healthy and working out, I tend to realize that a week or more has gone by without me cracking open a book. There's no doubt about it that I struggle with this, but it's something that I have recently realized I need to work on.

So how do we live a balanced life? My best guess is to create a plan that includes all aspects of our lives: relationships, work/school, fun hobbies, physical and mental health, etc. In that way we are simultaneously focused on everything: mind, body, and soul, but don't go too far off the deep end with any one individual aspect.

So far here's what I've come up with:

• I've created a "study schedule" that tells me exactly what I need to study for every day of the week. When making the schedule, I've taken into account which days I tend to have more time available so I can spend more time on those days but can still get in at least a brief study session to keep the material fresh in my mind on my busy days as well. Sometimes even just fifteen minutes a day can make a difference!
• My dad and I both need to study for our own certification exams and while we are in very different fields, we both use flashcards for studying. We've decided to try to meet up once a week for about an hour or two to quiz each other with our flashcards, getting in some much needed study time to focus on our minds, but also getting in quality father-daughter time in the process. 
• My husband and I have created a "household schedule" where we set aside a certain night of the week for paying bills, a list of weekly chores to do on the weekend, and we know ahead of time which small things we each have to worry about getting done every day. We've created an efficient system for making our shopping lists and even have the designated days of the week for each item listed on the fridge as a reminder so that we don't have to worry about getting stressed out or forgetting to do important things.
• My husband and I have also decided to set aside at least one evening a week for alone time or "date night" (which doesn't have to necessarily mean going out on a date, but could be as simple as watching a movie together or something like that). We also have a few shows that we try to watch together. We don't overdo it letting tv take over our lives, but sometimes having that half hour or an hour here and there where we know we can watch something together and discuss it after is a nice way to bond. The fact that it airs on a schedule outside of our control forces us to actually make the time to watch it together or catch up on it together.
• My husband and I have also bonded quite a bit lately over remodeling our house together. We're not on a strict schedule, but we've been working on it together at least once a week, focusing both on quality time together and improving our home.
• My husband and I have been trying recently to eat healthier meals, especially for dinner. We've discussed the paleo diet with one of my best friends who has been eating paleo for a long time now and have found some ways to make old favorites in a healthier way using less grain and starchy foods. We haven't been very strict about it, but we've started doing smaller things such as using almond flour instead of regular flour, using turnips instead of potatoes, eating more salads and vegetables, learning some smoothie recipes, etc.
• My husband and I are both focusing on making better financial decisions. I've stopped using my credit cards, I cancelled some of my memberships to save money, and we both pack our lunches now for work every day in order to save money so we're not buying our food out anymore.
• My mother and I have decided to set aside one evening a week to go to the gym together, simultaneously getting in a workout for our body wellness and getting to spend some quality mother-daughter time together. It's hard to find time when we're both free, but I have to remind myself that even just a half hour at the gym is better than nothing!
• I worked on getting myself on a new sleep schedule which helps me feel rested and ready for work, simultaneously improving my physical health, mental health, and helps me to be on time for work. 
• My best friend and I work together now and we always eat our lunches together, often doing something special on our lunch breaks like driving a few minutes away from our job and parking near a creek with beautiful fall foliage to have a "lunch break picnic" where we can take in the serene scenery and have the opportunity to catch up with each other privately.
• I make sure to schedule in time to hang out with my friends at least once a week. This often takes the form of "game night" where my husband and I invite two other couples to come to our house and play games together. We're also setting up D&D nights with another group of friends. Sometimes I just spend time with my best friend, his wife, and their children, usually at one of his kid's games or something like that or sometimes I just make plans to hang out with my girl friends at one of our houses or going shopping. One of my best friends lives far away so for her we just try to make time to call each other and talk every day and often play video games together, like WoW, along with some of our other friends because it's a fun hobby and a great way to bond with friends over long distances. 
• I try to make sure I always have time to see my family so I try to go to my sister's house to bond with my niece at least one day a week after work since she her house is less than a five minute drive from my job. I also try to plan to spend time doing something with my family at least once every couple weeks if not more. Sometimes this is doing an actual event, such as today we're going to a festival together, and sometimes it's a more casual and routine affair such as meeting up on Sunday mornings for brunch. 
• One of my new goals is to make some time to do at least a little bit of "for fun reading" every week, even if it's only a chapter or two. I've noticed that one of the most difficult things to do when you're in school is to actually set aside time to read the things you actually enjoy reading because it's easy to get sick of reading after spending so much time reading and studying things for school. I have a Goodreads and make a goal every year of how many books I want to read and it's one of the goals I set for myself that I always manage to reach. It's nice having a challenge that exercises your mind, helps teach you time management, and lets you do something your enjoy. 
• I try to spend at least fifteen minutes a day catching up on recent events and politics so I can stay informed on what's going on in the world. 
• I'm trying to spend time focusing on developing my skills and improving my creativity. I don't have a strict schedule for this, but I do try to make time for it at least once every couple of weeks or as often as I feel stimulated to do so. This can mean writing fiction on my own, working on making a baby blanket for my niece, or doing an arts and crafts project with my friends, such as working on making fall and Halloween wreaths. 
• I'm trying to spend more time in nature. This usually means spending my lunch breaks with my friend outside, taking the time to notice the fall foliage, sunsets, the stars at night, etc. or taking my dog for walks at our local park with one of my best friends. 

You'll probably notice that while I have a lot on this list focusing on mind and body, there's not much for soul outside of making sure I have time to do the things I enjoy and to spend time with my loved ones. It's because I have a difficult time deciding how I define "soul" and "spirituality" for me. I absolutely believe that making the time to focus on what and who I love falls under "soul" when creating a balanced life, but is that enough of a focus for my spirituality? Would it actually fall under "mind" because it helps with mental health? These are questions that I need to contemplate because I don't feel I have the answers yet. What I do know though is that I want to focus more heavily on my spirituality, but I'm not sure what that means yet for me. Does it mean setting aside time to meditate every day? Perhaps setting aside time once a week to pray on my own, such as saying the Rosary, or go to some sort of service, either Catholic mass, a UU service, perhaps performing some sort of witchcraft-esque private ritual on my own, such as something to honor my loved ones who have died or spending time trying to learn how to read tarot cards? Does spending time in nature count more for "mind" or "soul"? If I spend it walking, would it count more for "body"? I haven't decided what I should do yet but I know I want to spend some time thinking about it because I don't think I focus as much on my spirituality as I used to or as much as I should. What do you do to focus on your spiritual well being?