Finding Balance

I know we all struggle with finding balance in our lives. It's right up there with losing weight, quitting smoking, and being a better person.  If you saw the headline and thought you'd find some answers here, I'm sorry to disappoint.  I have no freakin' idea how to do it.

I have several things I'd like to do.  Finding the time is always the challenge.  If I try to solve this analytically here is what I come up with.

There are twenty four hours in a day.  I need a good eight hours of sleep, I've never been one to get by on five or six.  I need eight, so that leaves me sixteen.  Ideally I'd like to write two to three hours a day.  It seems like the best I can really hope for when I'm working.  I seriously need to get to the gym on some kind of regular basis, so that's about an hour and a half for a good workout, shower, slap on some fresh clothes, etc.  I know I'm supposed to eat five small meals a day.  I shouldn't rush, so I figure about twenty minutes for each of this small meals, including prep time.  I have two dogs who need to go out for walks about four times a day.  Each walk is about ten minutes.  There is about 20 minutes of feeding and play time, so that's another hour for dog care.  Since I'm stressed, my doctor recommended at least 30 minutes a day of meditation.  I have relationships which require attention, so that's another hour at least per day.  Now I've taken care of the basics. Throw in an hour for showering, shaving, and such personal business.  An hour should cover commuting. An hour of downtime helps my creativity and an hour of entertainment keeps me current.

So, the way I figure it, I have about four hours a day to earn a living. Considering that I really need to bring home about a eight hundred dollars a week to keep me in the lifestyle to which I could become accustomed, I need to earn about $75 an hour.

I could probably do that with one particular profession, but that's going to require that I spend a lot more hours in the gym.

Balance is hard.