Spoiler alter: The only true life hack is knowing that you can’t do it all.

Every single day we’re faced with the reality that time is a finite resource. It’s the feeling of time scarcity – like we have too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. This is true about work when most of us have way too many meetings, deadlines, reports, projects, and admin tasks but it’s also true about our personal lives. We want to exercise, eat well, cook more meals at home, practice yoga, go on nature walks, get more sleep, be a more attentive partner, mother, friend, daughter, read more, meditate daily, keep our house organized…and still make time for rest, reflection and to go on vacation. 

It’s a lot.

You can’t do it all.

A recent Pinterest search for “Healthy Routines” revealed a seemingly endless list of pins that promised life hacks for living better. Among them were these pin titles:

• 89 Morning Habits That Will Change Your Life
• 100 Habits to Complete in 100 Days
• 55 Daily Habits That You Should Add to Your Daily Routine To Make Your Life More Productive
• 45 Evening Rituals Before Going to Bed

Now, I’m not hating on these titles; they’re catchy and I, too, love to write a good list blog post. But, you mean to tell me that there are 289 hacks I should be doing every day to get ahead?

How in the world am I supposed to complete 89 habits before breakfast?

What do you do when you’ve optimized everything?

What are you supposed to do when you’ve already optimized everything? What do you do when you’ve already established your morning routine, when you’re satisfied with your evening routine and when you’ve eliminated as many distractions from your work day as humanly possible?

The answer – you acknowledge and accept that you cannot do it all and that that’s the actual hack: understanding that you cannot do it all.

Some seasons in your life will call for certain habits to be strengthened while others are set aside. Some seasons will give space for all of your best practices to work in harmony. And some will offer a little more wiggle room to introduce new ones.

But at the end of each day, there are still only 24 hours and you are not a machine.

How to find your version of balance

To find your balance, I recommend asking 2 simple questions:

1) What is important to me right now? 

“What’s important now? After a moment of reflection I realized that until I knew what was important right now, what was important right now was to figure out what was important right now!” — Greg McKeown, Essentialism

2) What would make a difference here?

Your answer doesn’t need to be groundbreaking or 89 items long. 

Pace yourself.