This awareness has brought about a chronic responsibility, enhanced levels of hustle for side jobs due to the increasing lack of job security and a ‘work hard, play hard’ attitude that is all too ineffective in the long term. So the question remains? Is work-life balance in fact a myth or an achievable goal? 

Managing your time wisely might mean forfeiting the Arsenal- Bayern FC game to finish up that report which is nearly due but it might mean you get more sleep later on and are more effective at work with reduced stress levels. Balance could also work in the reverse. It could mean skipping gym to read through your emails when in fact, your brain is probably more alert after a good work-out session and those emails aren’t going anywhere, are they? 

Productivity I’ve found is also greatly enhanced when you’re able to take meaningful breaks. Most of us millennials would rather be out turning up on Fridays, spend all of Saturday recovering only for Sunday to hit you like a ton of bricks and you’ve hardly gotten any rest, neither have you done the research for that brilliant idea you’ve been saying you’d kick start soon. Again, discipline is the common thread that binds everything together. 

Balance could also mean giving back. How many of us millennials are allocating some weekends to doing something for our immediate community? Yet, we are always the first to tweet about all the various things lacking in our society. A Harvard health publication surmised that volunteering not only helps promote mental health by warding off loneliness and depression, it has also been found to help reduce stress levels which could in turn lead to a healthier body. 

Think about it. In the past month, when you aren’t sitting in front of your laptop putting together those reports, what are you doing? 

Photo Credit: LanKogal/shutterstock.com

Her love for travel began at the age of 6, when she first traveled abroad. Since then, this Ugandan-American beauty who is now 34 years old, has lived on four continents in 5 countries, Forbes reports.

She has set a goal for herself to visit every country in the world (the 195 UN member countries and observing states, which includes the Vatican and Palestine) by her 35th birthday on May 29, 2019. So far, she has visited 106 countries, and has 89 more to go.

Jessica, who runs a boutique travel agency called Global Jet Club, admits that although her traveling adventures have been fun so far, it has been exhausting balancing her business with her travel schedule. So she has decided that although the business will still be running, she will need to step back from it’s day-to-day operations (we’re guessing she doesn’t run the company by herself?).

Jessica first made the decision to travel all around the world when she went to Bali, Indonesia over a year ago. Since then, she has paid for her trips with her own money, as well as taking advantage of frequent flyer miles.

To accomplish her goal to travel to every country in the world, she will need about $133,500! In order to fund the rest of her journey, she plans to reach out to brands for sponsorships. She has also created a gofundme page where fans can donate money to help cover her expenses.

“People have already been like, ‘how can we help, what can we do?… People want to see me win and that has been humbling,” she says. 

One of Jessica’s main motives for embarking on this journey, is to change the perception that many people of colour have, about travelling. Already, she has received encouraging messages from this audience all over the world, saying that her trips have inspired them to visit countries that they had prevously thought would be unwelcoming.

She also also aims “to show the possibility and  let little black and brown girls around the world to know that they can travel.”

Read more about Jessica’s story on Forbes

Photo Credit: Instagram | Jeff Smith Jr.