Wellbeing: The merits of taking time out for yourself

Jenny-May Coffin, presenter of Whanau Living. Photo / Carolyn Sylvester

Sports anchor Jenny-May Coffin is joining lifestyle programme Whanau Living. She writes how she finds balance in a busy working week.

Finding the right balance in our lives is an age-old question with no right or single answer. Life has taught me that we try our best to achieve balance but ultimately we do the best we can with the time that we have available, outside family and work.

It's never been all work and no play for me, instead it's about creating moments with friends and deciding what is negotiable and what is not. Since joining the Whanau Living team finding those "moments" has become more difficult but not impossible. Working seven days a week sounds crazy, okay it is crazy but I've still managed to find time to fit everything in.

Mornings have become "my time" - my time to walk and have that quiet moment before the day starts, or a quick dip in the ocean and "my time" to get to the gym for a quick sweat-on - this is one of my non-negotiables. I know how important feeling and looking good affects my confidence and self esteem - hence I won't compromise this.

I get that it's not always easy to rise early and get to the gym and or go for a walk. Find a friend to do it with you, make it social so it becomes not only about the physical side of things but spending time with a friend or friends.

Make it easy and part of your day and start small. Don't make it about losing weight but about having fun - I don't look at the scales because numbers can be depressing - it's all about how I feel.

I always find time to meet friends for a coffee (or Moet) and a chat and usually either one of us is "exercising our chimp" or offloading, which is so important for us to do.

Get it out of your system and move on.

I thought my life was busy, then I met our beautiful Whanau Living host Stacey Morrison. Seeing the way she operates has made me look at my life differently. Stace manages three children, her husband (lol), work (we're talking about four jobs now) and she still has time to sit and chat with me about life and still look fabulous while fitting everything in.

I get that now; finding balance is about doing things that make you happy.

I strive to achieve the ultimate balance but I know that is near-impossible -- it's about doing the things that make you feel good and are fun. Who knows, one day it may just happen.

• Jenny-May Coffin is a former Silver Fern and NZ touch rugby representative. She makes her debut as co-host of Whanau Living tomorrow. The show screens weekdays at 10am on TV One.