The Plastic Balls Vs Glass Balls Theory That Changes Everything

Best-selling author, Nora Roberts, shared this absolute pearler after she was asked how she balanced kids and writing.

The key to juggling is to know that some of the balls you have in the air are made of plastic and some are made of glass.

Simple. Brilliant. Realistic.

How many times have you felt completely overwhelmed because you’re attempting to juggle too many things?

Maybe you’re a working Mum that is finding the blend of work and parent-life challenging; or maybe you’re a full time employee with a side hustle, struggling to find the time to do both AND have some sort of life.

Whatever your situation, you’ve got balls.

In the air.

The theory of knowing which balls to drop, and which ones you must keep from falling to the ground and smashing into smithereens, is powerful.

Because if you drop a plastic ball, it bounces.

But if you drop a glass one? Well, it smashes.

And I couldn’t think of a more fitting topic to begin the new year.

To clarify, the plastic vs glass balls theory relates to having dozens of balls in the air; not just four or five.

The balls aren’t categories like “work”, “family” or “health”.

They are all the smaller, little tasks that make up your entire day.

Tasks like “complete X project at work”, "respond to X email”, “grab milk and bread”, “pick up kids from childcare”, “go to yoga” etc.

The theory is that if you can clearly identify which tasks are plastic balls, and which are glass, you have a much better chance at keeping the most important balls in the air – and reducing the pressure on yourself in the meantime.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. It’s brilliant.

I think about this ALL THE TIME.

Purely because it’s not possible to go through your life and not drop a ball every now and then.

It happens.

Even so, dropping balls sucks. (Unless you’re a teenage boy, in which case, enjoy your new man voice).

No-one likes to drop a ball, but just like death and taxes, it’s unavoidable.

So how do you know which balls are made of plastic, and which balls are made of glass? It’ll depend entirely on your own individual situation, but for me, sometimes I drop a plastic work ball in order to catch a family glass one.

But, and here is where the real genius lies, as the wonderful Nora Roberts says… her point isn’t to prioritise ‘kids over work’.

Her point was that ‘some kid stuff is glass, some is plastic, and sometimes, to catch a glass work ball, you have to drop a plastic family one, and that is okay”.

I mean, give the woman a Pulitzer prize. It’s life-changing.

Proof, yet again, that the most simplest ideas are very often, the best.

Welcome to 2021 – may your glass balls remain airborne.