Our Balancing Act

WE MAKE CONSTANT tradeoffs as we allocate our time and money across our life’s many competing demands. What if we feel like all is not right in our world? We may be confronting the seven choices below—and favoring one option at the expense of the other, leaving us with what feels like an unbalanced life.

1. Between doing what we should and doing what we want.Here, I’m thinking about taking care of ourselves physically. We need to strike a balance between rest and exercise, between time asleep and time awake, and between eating what we want and eating what we should. I’m no expert on such things—but I sure know the feeling when I haven’t had enough sleep, or I’ve been eating the wrong things, or I’ve either been too active physically or too sedentary.
2. Between spending and saving.For most Americans, the problem is too much spending and not enough saving. What if you’re the exception—which many HumbleDollarreaders seem to be—and find it hard to crack open your wallet? I’m not inclined to chastise folks for spending too little, unless their lack of spending is leading to unnecessary misery. But I would encourage folks to think about how they’d ultimately like to use their money, whether it’s to pay for big financial goals, help family and friends, or support their favorite charities.

3. Between seeking returns and avoiding risk.This can also be framed as upside potential vs. downside protection or as getting rich vs. avoiding poverty. We all want both, but we also all favor different spots on the spectrum that stretches from super conservative to wildly aggressive. This reflects both our emotional risk tolerance and our objective capacity to take risk.

4. Between work and leisure.There’s much talk about work-life balance. For many harried workers, what’s needed may be more leisure. But what about retirees? For those who find their days of endless relaxation less satisfying than they imagined, what may be needed is more work. No, it doesn’t need to be the paying kind, though I’m all in favor of earning a few bucks. Instead, the work could be projects around the house or volunteering in the community.

5. Between purpose and fun.There are two typesof happiness: hedonic and eudaimonic. Hedonic happiness is a fun dinner out with friends. Eudaimonic happiness is the sense of satisfaction we get from devoting ourselves to our favorite hobby. Eudaimonic happiness may seem somehow more worthy than hedonic happiness, but I don’t think we should make that sort of judgment. Instead, I think we should strive to strike a balance between the two.

6. Between friends and family.As with a lot of folks, family is a priority for me. I regularly call my mother and sister. I try to see my daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons regularly. Vacations often revolve around family members. But I’ve heard folks say that we spend time with family out of a sense of obligation, but we see friends because we enjoy it. I’m not sure I agree—or maybe I don’t feel that’s true for my family—but I think it’s a notion worth pondering.

7. Between time alone and time with others.What’s the right balance between these two? We’d all offer different answers, depending on our personality. But whether we’re extroverts or introverts, I suspect we’ve all felt lonely at times—and we’ve all felt the need for time alone after being among a scrum of others.

Source: Clements, Jonathan. “Our Balancing Act.” Humble Dollar, 05 Sept 2024, https://humbledollar.com/2024/09/our-balancing-act/?_cldee=-fqZ0V_PthGTwbYk8qHKTDPs5cE7Vior6Kj0glQj930_dZY9_F_aNP0r4OBRxMd7&recipientid=contact-175523919c7ae61180ddc4346bac0934-8e81c54bb9ed4f269ee1cdb1f17ed022&esid=1af59f41-0677-ef11-a670-6045bd01a9f9