What’s the right balance between work and non-work time? The traditional 9-5 has slowly disappeared with the emails and zoom and texting going far beyond traditional business hours. We asked members of our community to share with us how they think about work-life balance.

Nicole Schmitz | Holistic Nutritionist & Owner of Newport Peach

I think the key to “balance” is remembering that it’s not the same as “equal,” it’s about prioritization. When you take a little from here, you need to add a little over there. When I took over Newport Peach this past spring, there were days when I skipped workouts and altered my routine, for sure. I needed additional childcare and spent more time working in the evenings. If I maintained this forever, it wouldn’t have felt right. But for a while, I had to put in extra work to achieve my goals, and I knew this phase was only temporary to get things up and running again. I have to be honest, it’s impossible to do it ALL, every single day. Depending on the month, my kids, my body, or my spirit, my priorities shift, and that’s good. We ebb and flow and so does life. Read more>>

Malavika Rao | Artist & Educator

Recently, I’ve found it quite difficult to keep a healthy work-life balance. It’s difficult to make time for yourself, for your hobbies, for your friends, and for your creative practice when you work full-time to pay the bills. The grind is exhausting, and when I do have free time these days, I find that I need to use it on what I like to call maintenance tasks; laundry, feeding myself, cleaning, grocery shopping. As an educator, I find myself constantly drained of emotional energy, so the question of work-life balance is one that’s on the forefront of my mind the past few months. As a religious scheduler and to-do-lister, I find it really helpful to schedule dedicated time to do the things that energize me. Read more>>

Zhang Viola | designer

I’m also constantly trying to find a work-life balance. Work also takes up most of my time, but I enjoy the process of being at work. I feel like it’s also a part of my life. As for my personal life, I think of my relationship with my family and loved ones as my own upbringing. Sometimes, I also think that life and work don’t need to be separated, because they are both my choices Read more>>

Brandon Dougherty | Cinematographer and Colorist.

I think my understanding of balance has changed over the few years I have been in the film industry. I am very eager to create and make. I’m very action oriented so I tend to focus on the next project. In the last year, I have realized that I also need time to experience and live in order to facilitate the creation. I have been spending a lot more focus on seeing friends and getting out into the world, although it may be difficult in an economy like this with an industry that can be very hard to make a lot of money for a while. Read more>>

Quintin E. Lawrence | Small Business Owner & Senior Risk Analyst

Earlier in my life before our business was established and when I was a Soldier, life’s balance was a bit easier. Now, since being diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease (YOPD) 18 months ago, life’s balance has become a bit challenging. There is a new normal that surrounds me and my family. I am retired from the Army, work full time at Bank of Hawaii as a security analyst, manage AprilAmeliaPhotography, and attend school parttime. I also find time to spend quality time with my family, exercise, and care for our pets. I feel maintaining a consistent schedule helps provide adequate time to each aspect of my life. Proper rest, diet, and exercise allow me to proficiently accomplish daily activities. Read more>>

Michelle Brown | Interior Designer

As a small business owner, the concept of work-life balance becomes blurred. There is no clear-cut “log in – log out” time. In the beginning, I used to believe that I had to handle everything myself. However, with time, I have come to realize the importance of delegating certain tasks to others. This allows me to focus on the details that truly matter in both my work and personal life. While learning to separate work and home/family life has been challenging, I can confidently say that it is achievable and has made a significant difference in my personal life. I have successfully created a balance between work and my personal life, and I genuinely enjoy it. Read more>>

Zhaoyue Chen | Spatial/product designer & Artist

My work-life balance is a dynamic concept that evolves in alignment with my current objectives. It adapts and changes over time to accommodate different priorities. I’ve discovered effective stress management techniques through incremental steps and cultivating a positive mindset. Utilizing tools like to-do lists has become an indispensable strategy as I navigate the demands of my current life, which includes pursuing a graduate degree and nurturing my art career. Remaining receptive to support from others and maintaining flexibility are key aspects of my approach to achieving a sustainable work-life equilibrium. Read more>>

Prathibha Madigapola | Educator and Advocate

I think the idea of work-life balance isn’t actually as great as it sounds. Work-life balance is something that I had heard for a very long time and tried to implement as much as possible, especially when I was a classroom teacher. The focus on building a work-life balance became more difficult as I got older, mostly because it stopped making sense to me. My passion for teaching never wavered from year 1 to year 8[when I left] in the classroom – what changed was my life. I got married, bought a house, and adopted two amazing dogs – I didn’t want to balance my work and my life; I wanted my life to take priority! I didn’t want to wait until retirement to do the things I wanted to do – I wanted to create space for them now. Read more>>

Winnie Stack | Actor & Comedian

I have learned over time that maintaining a healthy work life balance has been challenging while pursuing a career in the arts! It’s easy to feel like there are always tasks to be done, especially because success feels heavily reliant on how much work I’m willing to put in on a daily basis. It’s hard to “turn off” and enjoy downtime when the pressures of acting creep up, so I’ve had to learn to create time limits for myself. I used to have a laptop open at all times when I was cooking, watching TV, sometimes even hanging out with friends. I would email people, apply for acting jobs, edit reels, and do other acting tasks in order to feel productive 24/7. Now I have learned to dedicate specific blocks of time for those tasks and leave my laptop and phone in another room while I recharge and do activities that have nothing to do with my career! Read more>>

Joseph Barba | Behavioral tech

For a while, I was accustomed to thinking that working all the time at a job you really don’t enjoy was part of normality. After a mental breakdown , I realized how important it is for a person like me to at least balance what you love while being able to pay your bills. Setting yourself up with a reliable schedule to be able to balance the two is crucial so that you have the opportunity to do both. Time management has definitely been a key factor with this. Read more>>