The Coronavirus has given many us an opportunity to pause and think about life, our purpose, and even the right work life balance. What’s your perspective and has it changed over time?

Emily Bourassa | Artist & Illustrator

I’m terrible at work life balance, or any kind of balance, and in the last few years I’ve just decided to embrace that mess. Whenever I’ve tried to create balance, I realize that what I’m actually doing is trying to give 100% in all areas and totally burning myself out. For now, I view my life in chunks of time, and each chunk has a short list of priorities that get the best of me, and everything else is likely getting cut. This mindset is really tough for anyone who struggles with perfectionism, or people pleasing, or has any kind of FOMO! What it looks like for me, is usually someone asking me to participate in something that sounds fun or interesting, and then doing a gut check of that thing against my list of priorities, and quickly seeing that it doesn’t make sense for me in this phase. Read more>>

Alyssa Devries | Content Creator & Comedian

When I was younger, I was solely focused on my career. I remember thinking that youth theatre and improv were the most important things in the world to me, which is so goofy looking back. I think with being forced to slow down from the pandemic, graduating college, and making a community I really love, I’ve realized that I do my best work when I’m fulfilled in my life as well. Nothing is more important than being happy, so I try to just chase that feeling. It’s helped a lot with the balance! Read more>>

Dallas Taylor | Sound Designer

When I was in my 20s, early in my career, I had a lot of free time. I didn’t have kids, and my focus was entirely on my craft. I was building a reel, meeting people, investing in relationships, and immersing myself in work. My life was essentially work. Read more>>

Bridget Walsh | Visual Artist and Painter

If you love what you do, you never stop working. You could be enjoying a dinner out and have an idea emerge in your head that never has before, or you could be decompressing in a yoga class and make a connection that will further advance your career that you didnt expect. It makes it really hard to create a work/life balance when your work is so much of who you are. Read more>>

Dustin Grabiner | Owner and Innovator at HK Sensory Gyms

An astounding yes! When I was in the film industry, work-life balance was nonexistent—they owned my time. Twelve-hour days plus commute were standard, and I rarely chose my own schedule; you either accept the project or you don’t work. In such a competitive environment, there was always someone ready to take your place if you turned down a job. Over time, I realized the instability and lack of loyalty weren’t what I wanted for the long haul, so I began searching for a way out. Read more>>

Rachel Ewing | Writer

My work life balance used to be all about the work and grinding on it until it was done… But the hardest part about writing (probably other creative jobs) is that I cannot force it. I would skip events and stay home to focus on fixing my work, but unless I was in the right head space, it wouldn’t be worth it. I’d get the pages cranked out, but they wouldn’t be good because I was trying to force the process to happen faster. I would get stuck in a script and try to ring answers out of time alone with the page. The empty page that was giving me nothing. Read more>>

Eric Jaipal | Photographer & Digital Artist

Work-life balance has always been a tricky challenge for me, especially as a recent college graduate. Juggling classes, assignments, part-time work, and creative projects, I found that creating a schedule and prioritizing what mattered most worked best for me. While this approach wasn’t perfect—important priorities sometimes ended up on the back burner and didn’t get the attention they deserved—not having any schedule or routine would have made things far worse. I always make it a point to set aside time for myself during the week, whether it’s for fitness, excursions, or practicing my art. Dedicating a few planned hours every other day gives my mind a chance to recharge, reflect, and generate new ideas throughout the week. Read more>>

Moroz | Songwriter & Musician

Music and art are very self-motivated careers, and I’m someone who’s learning to coexist with my experience of ADHD a bit later in adulthood. It’s always been a short path to panic or catastrophizing for me, which many people with ADHD experience as one of their primary motivators to work. My life pre-diagnosis was plagued by procrastination, so I’ve had to get precisely familiar with what balances me. I’m working to design a career for myself that allows for more flow and forgiveness, so that my accomplishments don’t have to come at the price of horrible self-talk so often. I also try to stay completely honest with myself about when it’s time to stop. Take a dang break. Eat a snack. Lie on the floor. Talk about nonsense garbage with my roommates. It can be a tough balance to maintain, but I’m happy to report that it’s working! Read more>>

Yinzhu Yao | Architectural Designer&Photographer

My definition of balance in life and work has changed over time. Early in my career, I was very focused on professional success and invested much of my energy in my career. But I came to realize that way is surely one quick route to burnout, and true success definitely encompasses personal fulfillment and well-being. Now, I try to find a balancing scheme in a holistic manner: work and personal life are both important, as they support each other. Read more>>

Shea Bart Andreone | Writer, Fertility Advocate

The definition of work changes for me, depending on what I am doing. I love writing so it doesn’t feel like work, but editing my writing, formatting, and re-reading sometimes feels tedious. I have two children — when I became a mother, it was as if someone pressed the restart button on my life. On one hand, it has been the most rewarding, incredible role I have ever had, but on the other, it is also the hardest I have ever worked at something. You are never off-duty. I tend to be pretty disciplined and don’t always take a break when I should, but I am getting better about adding activities that restore me like taking walks and reading books. I am also getting a little better at asking for help. Just a little, I need to work on doing that more. Read more>>

Leah Yard | Owner of Leah Yard Designs and Host of the “Voted Least Likely” Podcast

This is such an important topic. I used to think that work/life balance was something I needed to be focused on keeping consistent. In fact, I would feel a lot of shame during busy times in my business when I felt I wasn’t present enough in my personal life. I have learned over the years of running a small brand that there isn’t really such a thing as work/life balance. Some seasons I need to focus soley on my business, and that’s ok. Read more>>

Tanner Sawitz | Ceramicist

I think a lot of people always strive to have “good” work/life balance, meaning sort of a 50/50. But if you’re really pursuing something you’re passionate about, or even just trying to make real progress on an endeavor, you might have to temporarily shift that a bit. It might look like 80/20 or even 90/10, geared towards work, in order to get through a challenging time and do what you need to do. For me, when things get crazy, I tend to reflect on the slow times where I didn’t have much going on, and try to find an appreciation of the craziness and long hours. I think during these 90/10 times I just put my head down and work until I’m done, which could be days or weeks. But everything is temporary, whether you’re cranking on a project or even at a job you dislike, and it helps to keep that in mind. Read more>>