What’s the right work-life balance for you?

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.
Welp, this is a good question. Feel free to edit this if I start to ramble, lol. Life is a balance, and finding that balance is something I’ve been practicing since I can remember. I’ve always been a guy who has a wide variety of interests and hobbies. This ranges from sports and athletics, to science, and of course art. I’ve always been studious and had the drive and initiative to understand things a little deeper than surface level. So when something new comes along that peaks my interests, I take a deep dive to study it, practice it, and add it to my catalog and rotation. Over time some of these interests fall off, and are replaced by new ones or to make space to practice the old ones. Read more>>
Meditation has been great for me both personally and for my creative process. Recently I joined a meditation group at 6 a.m. This has made a huge impact in my life as it has brought me more joy, patience and inner peace. I spend a lot of time at my studio during the day and at home in the evenings preparing dinners. My partner is going through health issues and so he needs more care as well. So it’s important for me to make sure I take time for myself. Exercise is really important to me, so is being in nature, and I am learning to have more fun in my daily life to balance out the challenging moments. For example, yesterday we had doctors appointments so I also took my partner out for a nice lunch and a mani/pedi! Read more>>
I live while I work and I work while I live. I used to think that “work” was the drudgery of non-creative wage labor and “life” was all the good stuff: making art, hanging out with friends and family, eating, drinking, sleeping, and dreaming. Now, I’m not so sure. What I really think about now is the give-take balance. How much am I giving to the people around me, and how much am I taking for myself? Read more>>
when I first started my business there was a constant need to be on the clock all the time and say yes to absolutely every and anything that came my way for the sake of growing my business but also because naturally I was afraid to say no or make people wait too long for an answer for fear they would ask someone else! I also worked out of my home for 9 years so in a sense I was always bringing it home with me and fitting it in my home life. Read more>>
Ideally, I think a wonderful work life balance would be 8 hours of work, 8 hours of personal / play time, and 8 hours of sleep. When I first came out of college, I was a workaholic. It was in great part due to the rigor and competitive environment of ArtCenter College along with wanting career advancement and monetary rewards quickly. Read more>>
Up until recently, I thought work life balance meant being able to balance the time you spend working with the time you spend enjoying. I feel like everyone sees it this way we refer to it as “the 9 to 5 and 5 to 9”. As an entrepreneur and the CEO of two businesses, a typical “9-5” does not exist for me. I just read a book called Leaders Eat Last that completely changed my outlook on work like balance. I now think of it like this: Read more>>
Oh, Ms. Balance, we’re not very familiar with her ‘round these parts. To be honest I think we use balance as a method of self-flagellating like a good Catholic does on Sundays. It’s a concept that I see being sold to me everywhere, but I’m not buying.. Something to motivate us to go to workout classes and to buy maca-infused smoothies so we can tell ourselves we’re “being good”. If I made a list of the things necessary to balance my life (as told to me by social media & those neverending marketing emails in my inbox), and followed it step-by-step, I’d have about three spare minutes in my day to do anything of real value. Read more>>
I’ve learned about balance from teachers like Steven Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) Jeff Olson (The Slight Edge), Lee Holden (Qigong teacher), and especially through the UA 12 Step Program. The main shift in my screenwriting and story consulting is about letting go of being “end-goal oriented.” That is, learning how to be the tortoise and not the hare. Being present in the moment rather than fearing what the future might bring. Read more>>
A little known fact about Gen Xers is that we are referred to as the ‘Latch Key’ generation. Basically my domineering memory of coming home from school as a young child is that of an empty house because both of my parents worked 9-5 jobs. Now whether that played a direct hand into how I have created my life is up for discussion but I’m pretty sure it has. I feel that maybe after seeing my parents being stuck to a grind that left them with little energy to spend time with me during my formative years, on some level influenced how I have created my work life balance. Read more>>
I believe balance to be more of a harmonious state of mind– rather than an open spot on your calendar. When you do something you love– whether it be on the side or for your full-time job, the need for “balance” kind of fades away. I’m a full-time student and Green-ish began as an outlet for me. It was almost harder to keep our understanding of navigating the “world of wellness” or the career conversations we already have with entrepreneurs just to ourselves, we wanted to share them to enhance the lives of others. When you have something to share– something to create, there’s no missing equilibrium to desire. Read more>>