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.

Angela Ficken | Psychotherapist and Entrepreneur

My approach to work-life balance has evolved significantly over time, reflecting my journey and the insights gained from my practice. Early in my career, like many professionals, I found myself immersed in my work, striving to establish myself and make a meaningful impact in the lives of my clients. Read more>>

Clarisse Abelarde | Artist

I think about the balance a lot. I feel like this is something that changes as circumstances come up. I say yes a great deal and figure things out on the fly, which can be stressful for most people. Read more>>

Elena Epstein | Co-owner and Creative Director of L.A. Parent

As a mom and a business owner, I realize that there is no such thing as “balance.” Being a parent and running a business means you are constantly juggling different responsibilities. When my kids were younger, I would work a lot of late nights and early mornings, as well as working in my car while waiting for soccer or softball practice to end. Read more>>

Brea Weinreb | Artist

I was actually thinking about this last night. I’ve established a much better work/life balance within the past few months. Last year I constantly felt like I was “behind” even though I was really pushing myself far beyond my limits. Read more>> 

Sara Forte | Author and Recipe Developer

This one feels big, because it is the one piece that changed the trajectory of my career. I was part of the food blogging boom, that turned towards social media, and then I had kids amidst the season when the pace there was becoming more demanding and “feeding the beast” became necessary. Read more>>

Celia Hsu | Motion Designer & Art Director

When I was younger, I devoted most of my time to work. I held a full-time job and often took on freelance work. I enjoyed being busy, but I soon realized this lifestyle was detrimental to my physical and mental health. With no time to rest, I constantly felt stressed. Read more>>

Angie White | Course Content Creator, Online Learning Specialist, TEFL Trainer (Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Professional Development Specialist

My journey towards the work-life balance destination had many bumps and U-turns. I used to be super focused on work and was willing to compromise my personal time and put in long hours in pursuit of what I believed was success. Read more>>

Mikaella Martinez | Content Creator

Content creation in the beauty space started out as a hobby in 2019. I worked my corporate job during the day and worked on creating content all night. I would find little pockets of time to unwind throughout the week,to shoot videos or take aesthetic photos of skincare and beauty products. Read more>> 

Alexandra Funes | Film Composer

Work-life balance is crucial, yet often challenging to achieve. Initially, I believed that dedicating all my focus to work was the key to success. However, I learned that without a proper balance, even minor setbacks can have unexpected consequences due to an unstable foundation. Read more>>

Tal Zaiet | Restaurant Owner & Chef

Having a proper work-life balance truly does feel impossible at times. For the first couple of years after I opened Mazal, it was all work and no life. A balance didn’t exist. I’ll always look back at those days with a sense of genuine disappointment in many ways that I couldn’t figure out how to manage both appropriately. Read more>>

Carolina Gaerlan | Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)

It’s an ongoing journey. The Applied Behavior Analysis field can be demanding. Working with the special needs population, you are prone to experience what we call compassion fatigue. I have experienced burnout and mental stress from previous roles. Read more>>

Lukas Hasler | Concert Organist

Maintaining a work-life balance as a touring concert organist has been an evolving challenge over the years. Initially, the demands of constant travel and performance schedules made it quite difficult to strike a harmonious equilibrium.  Read more>>

Young Kim | Video Editor and Writer

Balance is something I’ve always struggled with. I thought “balanced” meant I wasn’t pushing myself to my limits or coming face-to-face against my deepest insecurities. “Balanced” meant I was bored. Read more>>

Erynn Rose | Interior Designer

In the last three months, my concept of work-life balance has drastically evolved as a result of my decision to leave my corporate full-time position and pursue a full-time entrepreneurial career. Read more>>

Dawn McFarland | Independent Certified and Licensed Health Insurance Agent for Medicare

I could be called a workaholic – I enjoy being productive. As I have gotten older (and hopefully wiser) I have learned that the cliché “if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life” is pretty accurate. I also feel that ensuring I have some “down time” is imperative to avoid burnout. Read more>>

Cydney Williams | Artist & Yoga Instructor

I like this question, because of the allure of having a simple recipe to achieve a constant state of balance to anyone at any stage of their life is so appealing. However, we know there is no quick reference sheet of work life balance have to’s and what not’s. Read more>>

Ming Wang | Artist

Balancing work and life is indeed a significant challenge for artists, especially as their passion evolves into a profession. Initially, many artists pursue their craft out of love, considering it a hobby. However, as art transitions into a career, new expectations emerge, including the pressure to sustain a livelihood and gain recognition within the art community. Read more>>

Amber Rukaj | Maternal Mental Health Therapists

As busy, full-time maternal mental health therapists, mothers, and business owners the balance of time feels ever present in our minds. In hindsight it feels like we had all the time in the world before motherhood and our time was balanced so differently than it is now. Read more>>

Sam Sanderson | Coffee Roaster and Owner

Balance is not the easiest thing to grasp, especially when you own a business! It can be very challenging at times to learn how to step away and breath again. When I first started LUV, work life balance was not something that I understood, let alone knew how to value!  Read more>>

Meera Sharma | Host

My work life balance has certainly changed since the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic I was very much about work, work and more work. Don’t get me wrong I would have a holiday in between working but outside of that I would never take time out during the evenings or weekends to just relax. Read more>>

Sofia Iacono | Sofia Iacono RN, BSN Aesthetic Injector

Throughout my nursing career, which began in the turbulent year of 2020 as a night-shift COVID telemetry nurse, the concept of work-life balance felt elusive. The demands of the pandemic, coupled with irregular sleep patterns, left me burnt out and prompted a reassessment of my priorities. Read more>>

Colleen Newvine | life/career coach, marketing consultant and author

I wish I could come up with a new term for work-life balance. Everyone knows what it means so I understand why you ask the question this way, but my objection is that it feels to me like work and life are in opposition to each other. Read more>>