The importance of finding balance

1. On a typical weekend, how many items are on your to-do list? Put a tick next to all the 'should' tasks. How many are things that you're looking forward to doing? Make sure this weekend you do at least one of those.

2. A fear of laziness often leads to some pretty black and white thinking. 'Allow yourself to make balanced choices,' suggests psychologist Sander Marcus. 'If i have a difficult report to write and the football is on TV and there's cold beer in the fridge, obviously I really want to do the latter. But actually the best choice is to have a balance. I could work through the first half then watch the second. The more you perceive yourself as choosing what to do, the more chance you'll have of getting what you want in life.'

3. If you are finding it hard to stop doing something 'useful', ask yourself 'am I doing this because I am scared or because I am being productive?' If we find that we're 'overdoing' the acid test is to ask ourselves 'is what I'm doing something that makes me proud? If not, why not?' In this way we can choose the things that have real meaning and value.