I wish someone had told me about keeping my buckets balanced

“I wish someone had told me” is a series of posts that feed into our inquisitive nature at CN&CO. Each week we hear from someone in our network about something interesting or surprising that’s recently happened or occurred to them – or lessons they learnt. These blogs are a way to pay it forward and form part of CN&CO’s belief that the world can be a better place – and we all have a responsibility to make it so. This week’s post is by Colin Ford.

Working for a lifestyle business has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s great to be able to do things in my own time, but it also means sometimes having to work in what would be traditional “off” time. The trick is to get the balance right.

I was chatting to a friend the other day who spoke about the five buckets of life – a nice concept used to illustrate the idea of achieving a healthy work-life balance. This theory categorises life’s aspects into five distinct “buckets,” each representing a different area of focus. The aim is to ensure that attention and effort are distributed across these buckets to create a well-rounded and fulfilling life.

The five buckets typically encompass the following areas:

Career: This bucket pertains to your professional endeavours, including your job, career goals, and work-related responsibilities. Very often this one is the dominant bucket that takes over your life.

Health: The health bucket encompasses your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. This includes exercise, nutrition, stress management, and self-care practices. Sadly, we tend to neglect this bucket.

Relationships: This bucket covers your connections with family, friends, and other personal relationships. Nurturing and maintaining healthy relationships is essential for a balanced life. Make sure to keep in touch with loved ones.

Personal growth: The personal growth bucket focuses on continuous learning, skill development, and pursuing hobbies or interests that bring you joy and personal fulfilment. You’re never too old to learn!

Giving back: This bucket emphasises giving back to the community, volunteering and contributing to causes larger than yourself. It’s about making a positive impact on the world around you. You can do this by donating to worthy causes or spending time with people who need it.

The Five Bucket Theory encourages individuals to allocate time and energy to each of these buckets to prevent one area from dominating their life while neglecting others. By consciously dedicating attention to all five aspects, we can enhance our overall well-being and achieve a more satisfying work-life balance.

Sometimes life gets in the way! The distribution of focus across these buckets can vary depending on individual circumstances, goals and life stages. Perhaps you’ve just landed a new client, or your mother-in-law has recently moved in with you. We need to recognise these facets of life and strive to maintain a harmonious equilibrium among them.

Remember to check in with yourself every so often to ensure none of your buckets is empty or overflowing. And if one of them has a hole in it, you’ll need to get it fixed pronto!