I heard a quote recently from Chappell Roan, where she was describing balancing out her growing celebrity status with her private life. She said, “If you don’t protect your mental health, you do really well.” While I 100% believe that in the music industry. I think you can look at any profession, honestly any life for that matter, with the same mindset.

This summer, I accepted an opportunity as an adjunct professor at Goshen College teaching digital and social media marketing. During the day, I work full-time at Everence in Goshen as a marketing manager. We are a financial services company that helps integrate faith and finances together through banking, investments, financial planning and many more. I work with our offices around the country to create marketing strategies that connect potential clients to Everence and deepen relationships with existing clients. In my spare time, I am a board member of the Art House, a local non-profit that provides high-exposure/low-barrier opportunities for artists in the region. I am also a co-founder of an event called Goshen & Dragons, a game day where we provide everything you need to play Dungeons & Dragons. 

My personal life, when I can manage to find it, is the balance of time to myself and time with my spouse, Taylor, and with my dog, Nola. Time to myself typically includes reading, playing video games and running. Time with my spouse involves traveling, watching movies (we met at the Los Angeles Film Study Center program, so movies are a big part of our relationship) and volunteering in the community. Time with my dog typically involves her bullying me into giving her treats and playing outside … she’s the best! 

I say all of this not to brag on how great or fulfilled life is, but to set the scene for the sheer amount of things and priorities that are in my life. 

Spoiler alert … I would not call my life balanced in any way!

My time is often pulled in one of multiple directions: working on the next project, finding a new place to travel, fighting for a free weekend to do nothing and some sort of family time. My wife and I are in our busy season of the year with events almost every weekend and the holidays not far behind. Every year, I try to preempt the oncoming season by blocking out our calendar to give us weekends to breathe, but inevitably each block falls one by one.

So how do you keep it all balanced or at least not go crazy? You mostly have to set boundaries and priorities. There are a lot of obligations that will dictate your time, so it’s important to make time for the things you want to do. Knowing which things take a lot of energy is just as important as knowing the things that give you energy. When you know those things, you can start to see when you need energy and when you can give some.

I love my job (I want to make this clear in case anyone at Everence ever reads this), but it is mostly energy taking. There are always days that give energy, don’t get me wrong, but mostly I give more than I get. I try to balance this out with downtime by doing things that take minimal brain effort; however, balance for you is not the same balance for others.

 

Nick Matthews is an adjunct professor of business and a marketing manager who has 10-plus years of experience in creative and strategic marketing.