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.

Sakura Perry | Game Developer & Programmer

I admittedly have not had the greatest work-life balance in the past couple of years, and part of the reason why is because the line between work and life is blurred for me. I’m in a lucky position where my hobby is my career; I love what I do as a game developer, and whatever time I have that isn’t spent on actual “work” would often still be spent on some other personal project. Read more>>

Erin Eng | Background Painter & Illustrator

I have a 19-month old daughter, Arden, who is my whole world. Before having her, I would have said having a job in animation was my primary focus. I would constantly push how late I would work because I was locked in to whatever task was at hand. I ultimately put unnecessary pressure on myself to adhere to deadlines, sometimes to the detriment of my mental and physical health.  Read more>>

Sara Woster | Artist, Writer, Teacher

There was not much of a life balance before I had kids. It was all about art. Or maybe it wasn’t so much a lack of life/work balance as it was that before kids I was balancing different things. The balance was art/life/day job. I prioritized making art and looking at art over normal things other people do like go to brunch, working out and have picnics in Central Park. The rest of my life was working day jobs to pay for all that art. Read more>>

Yao Wen | Production Designer

Work-life balance is a topic I keep discussing with my fellow filmmaker friends. Our answer is that we have no balance yet, but we keep trying to find one. The most important thing to maintain a work life balance for me is to set boundaries. Clearly define work hours and personal time, and communicate these boundaries to my team. However, I have to say I am not the best at setting boundaries. Read more>>

Sherah Brickell | Lifestyle Photographer

Work life balance has been something that I knew I needed to have at the forefront of my mind as soon as I had my first son while serving in the Untied States Air Force. I knew my time was not always my own, so I had to make a conscious effort to put my husband and boys first when I did have time away from work. Read more>>

Nicole Schmitz | Newport Peach Owner

Owning a brick-and-mortor fitness studio has been a great journey so far, filled with energy, passion, and constant growth. When I first took over Newport Peach a little over a year ago, the excitement was sky-high, but finding balance was way more challenging over the coming months than I was expecting. Read more>>

Ansley McLeod | Artist & Interior Designer

I had always wanted my work to be my life. It’s not that I wanted to be a workaholic, I just wanted to love and be passionate about my work because I knew how much of my life it would take up. I also naively thought it would be this perfect reflection of me and my worth, but as much as I love what I do, separation from it is also extremely important. Read more>>

Todd “PopNTod” Breithaupt | iLL SkiLLz Dance Mentorship Founder, specializing in the style / culture of popping

Since 2006, my work has been almost completely immersed in dance, whether it be teaching or performing. As of last year though, I recognized that I can still be an artist living an artist’s life, and remove some of the pressure of attracting income solely through dance. Read more>>