Competing interests in life make it difficult for an individual or a household to be “balanced", even if the definition of balance is one that they apply to themselves.
Non-discretionary tasks crowd out the discretionary time that an individual has to pursue “their own interests”. Sleeping, working, eating, cooking, housekeeping, looking after children or old parents, become non-discretionary tasks that compete for the time spent “at home relaxing”, “building relationships”, “taking holidays”, "gardening" or "reading". There is continual conflict between “work” (the need to earn income), and the desire to be at “home” exercising independence in what we do, and when.

What is the journey that must be taken to change?   What are your choices?
In our analysis of hundreds of families, "how time is spent" provides a good starting point. Our research has concluded that of all the different ways that families spend time or money, these can be grouped into 5 life-segments, or as we call them, "asset classes":

• Body (or biological) – eating, sleeping, exercise, grooming, sickness, recreation;

• Brains (or intellectual) – cultural, education, training, reading, writing, etc;

• Goods (or physical)- material goods – houses, cars, toys, furnishings, etc;

• Money (or financial) matters – work, expenses, income, loans, investments, etc;

• Mates (or relationships) – family, community, spiritual, employer, clubs, pets.

So the next step is to check your current life-style balance. You will need Microsoft Excel to run this tool. This "Life-Style Balance Assessor & Planner" will show you your "balance" today. Then if your "balance" is not right, you can plan to change it at the next step (Share Freely).