Our community is filled with hard-working, high achieving entrepreneurs and creatives and so work-life balance is a complicated, but highly relevant topic. We’ve shared some responses from the community about work life balance and how their views have evolved over time below.

Blair Madigan | Director of Photography & Camera Operator

Work life balance is one of the most challenging part of being in the film industry. I have missed a lot of friends and family events because of work scheduling. Now that I am a husband and father i have changed my balance more towards life than work. Life is too short and you only get a some moments in life once so I have taken that into account. I think its also important to step back from your work so you avoid burning out creatively and emotionally. Read more>>

Lumi Chang | Freelance senior motion designer

I think work life balance means very different things to me as I go through my 20s and 30s. I’m currently 32 years old and work life balance has never been more important to me, yet it was not even in the back of my head just a couple years back. Read more>>

Hanyu Gao | Film Editor

As an editor, urgent tasks and occasional overtime work are inevitable. I believe the most important aspect of balancing life and work is to delineate between work time and personal time, urging myself to complete tasks within the designated time, and avoiding procrastination to keep me from extending work into personal time. When there is unavoidable overtime, it is essential to estimate the expected duration of the overtime work and allocate sufficient time for personal matters. Organizing work systematically forms the foundation for balancing work and life. Read more>>

Ziyan Zhou | Story Artist

My work-life balance has changed to some degree over time, and I am still looking for it. Originally grown up in a small city in southeastern China, I did not have much to do, and my parents had given me everything I needed. As a result, my work-life balance at that time almost did not exist – it was about 90% work. As for the 10% personal time, I was always lost in my psychological inner world, films, books, and my comfortable bedroom. Read more>>

Patrick Kigongo | Product Manager

I take work/life balance pretty seriously now. When I was in my 20s, I was living in Washington DC and working for a small labor rights non-profit. Outside of my day job, I was playing guitar or bass in 3 bands, DJing, running a music blog and contributing concert reviews to other local blogs. I also had a pretty active social life, too. Read more>>

Derya Celikkol | Actor & Production Designer

When I first graduated from NYU and started to work as an actor, deciding to take time off from being in New York to see my family in Turkey was such a stressful decision for me. I often felt like I could miss the one chance that would make my career if I wasn’t available to work in New York even for a short amount of time. This trend continued when I started to work as a production designer too. I wasn’t able to make any trip plans with my family or friends because I often got jobs last minute and I didn’t want to commit to a personal plan knowing that I would cancel it in a heartbeat if a job came along. Over the last few years, the importance of my personal life started to weigh heavier. The reason for this is probably a mixture of being at a comfortable place in my career, getting older and having more impactful personal life moments that show me how important it is to give myself time away from work. Everyone is built different and everyone has fluctuations in their work-life balances over the years but I really wish I didn’t put so much pressure on myself to be available for work when I was younger and enjoyed my time off even more with my friends and family. Read more>>

Aubrey Situmorang | Bass Player

Balancing work and life, especially when you are an artist and musician, is real tough. Music, while being my life passion, is also the main source of my income. There were times when I feel burnt out and disconnected from my passion but still had to make music. Even though it was hard, I kept going and gave my best as a professional. Over time, I realized that in order to have a good quality in music and keep being passionate in it, I have to find happiness and be passionate in other things in life besides music. I love to spend time with friends, explore new local places, read books, enjoy sunsets, and the list goes on. Having a happy life outside of music helps me remember that I am a whole person first before a musician, and that makes it easier for me to have a balanced life and work. Read more>>

Caitlin Martinez | Manicurist

Work-life balance is still something I am trying to perfect. Although I think I am getting a lot better at setting boundaries, with my clients(and myself) I do find myself swaying from time to time. In the beginning of my journey I was SUPER available, I’d drive to people’s houses, church’s , events anywhere in LA to service a client if they asked with enough time in advance. I wanted the experience and I wanted people to know they could count on me to get their nails done. Looking back I really did stretch myself thin, but it didn’t seem that way back then, all I could think about was how grateful I was that someone wanted and trusted me to do their nails so I made myself available for them. Although I am grateful for those times, I wouldn’t want to work that way anymore because there was zero balance. All I did was work, barely eat, drive and work some more. I’m happy to say I’ve found a better balance in the past year or 2, now I do take time off when needed, I take multiple weekend trips a year, and only work Tuesday-Friday. I also have time slots that clients are able to book now as opposed to asking when they were available or what worked for them. I’m grateful to have such great clients who have been with me and even encourage me to take time off because they value me as a person not only their service provider. I think balance is the key to longevity, success and prosperity in a buisness because anything in excess is bad for us in my opinion and most things can be healthy with balance. Read more>>

María Romero | Artist & Textile Designer

Balance, that desired state of equilibrium, so hard to achieve and easy to lose once it’s achieved. For me balance is always the goal, when I reach it I feel the opening and I am able to create space for new things to flow in. Read more>>

Angad Singh | Graphic Designer and Educator

I struggled to maintain a good balance when I started working after graduating in 2020. It didn’t help that Covid kept everyone away from each other and I found that work time blended seamlessly into life time. But slowly over the last couple of years or so, I’ve struck a good balance between getting things done at work and taking time for myself. I feel like I’ve found a good routine now that makes me feel like I’m being productive but not over-exerting myself if it isn’t required. I also think time management is key and it’s a skill I’ve picked up in the last three years or so. Read more>>

Francesca Lia Block | Writer/Writing Instructor

I now both work more and play more!. It takes its toll but at this point in my life I don’t want to miss out on anything. Read more>>

Amanda Pilkington | Private Chef and Owner

Absolutely! I’ve been a private chef for over 10 years. Most of my career took place when I live in Park City, Utah. Back then I was a workaholic. When it was high season, I often would work 12–16-hour days for weeks at a time. At the time, my idea of balance was during my off season, travelling for weeks/months at a time. This gave me a food and cultural fix which I felt Utah was seriously lacking. Read more>>

Lizzy Rothstein | Physical Therapist, Dancer, Dance Coach, and Choreographer

I haven’t always prioritized finding balance, which has caught up with me more often than not. My identity was rooted in what I did, not who I was as a person. This mindset didn’t create the best foundation for a healthy work-life balance. Now, I’m still learning to create space and separation. Read more>>

Ericka Régine | Creative Consultant & Producer

Starting my company Daupeaire was a love letter to myself. After spending 15 years in the demand of my career and lending myself out 70% and only retaining a fraction of what was leftover for myself… I then became a mom. I knew that that managing my own services was the best way for me to be a great mom and still retain the love I have for my craft. Read more>>