Finding Your Balance using the Occupational Balance Boat

Life can feel a lot like being in a boat—sometimes steady, sometimes rocking, and occasionally, in danger of tipping over. The Occupational Balance Boat is a visual metaphor that helps us think about the different areas of life we need to balance in order to stay afloat and manage fatigue and energy better.

The Boat as Your Life

Completing this exercise is done by drawing the boat into different sections to see where the ‘weight’ is heaviest, and to see where your energy is going. These sections will represent the different activities and responsibilities in your life—work, rest, self-care, leisure, social connections, and personal growth.

• Too much of one thing (like work or socializing) can make the boat tip.

• Too little of another (like rest or leisure) leaves you unsteady, even if you don’t notice it right away.

  
  

The boat metaphor makes it easy to see that balance isn’t about perfection—it’s about adjusting so you can weather different seas without capsizing, and it’s about finding the balance of activities that helps your energetic boat stay afloat.

The Risks of Imbalance

All of us can lose sight of where our energy is going from time to time, but there are some major problems with losing track of where our energy goes. Here are just some of the things that can happen if your boat’s load isn’t balanced:

• Burnout when work crowds out rest.

• Loneliness when social activities vanish from your schedule.

• Stagnation when you skip growth or learning opportunities.

Additionally, chronically ill people may find the following problems arise;

• Increased likelihood of flare ups

• Feeling afraid and uncertain of how to manage your time

• Over-exertion, because you aren’t aware of how much energy an activity takes leads to your boat capsising.

• Loss of joy when all your energy goes to survival tasks, leaving nothing for the things that bring you meaning.

Some suggested strategies to regain balance include;

1. Check your load regularly—take time to reflect on where your energy is going.

2. Redistribute weight—make small changes rather than drastic overhauls.

3. Ask for help—sometimes you need another set of hands to keep your boat steady.

4. Energy mapping – track which activities drain or replenish you.

5. Micro-rests – use short, intentional breaks throughout the day to keep your boat steady.

6. Prioritization – decide what’s essential today and let go of what can wait.

7. Asking for support – delegate or share tasks to lighten your load.

   
   

Why This Matters

Occupational balance isn’t about doing everything equally—it’s about knowing your priorities and making conscious choices to keep your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing afloat. Your boat will face storms, but with awareness and small adjustments, you can keep it upright and moving toward your destination. With chronic illness, the goal isn’t to do more—it’s to do what matters most without capsizing your energy reserves. The Occupational Balance Boat helps visualize that you can’t remove the “fatigue passenger,” but you can shift the other weights, set a slower pace, and still move forward without burning out.

How to complete the exercise

The Occupational Balance boat