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.

Patricia Barnes | Book coach and motivational speaker

I always been intentional about enjoying life and accomplishing goals to achieve work- life balance. For me all work and no play is no fun. Also, all play and no business goals is not fulfilling. I need balance in my life. Sometimes balance doesn’t exist because you need to focus on one thing at a time or you will get so overwhelmed that you won’t accomplish anything. When my schedule and to-do list is busy, I may not have time to cook or go to the gym because my priority is to take care of my sick grandfather or work is busier than usual. Read more>>

Kimberly Lawson | TEDx Speaker, Business Strategist, & International Bestselling Author

Over the course of my career, my perspective on work-life balance has evolved significantly, reflecting a shift in priorities and self-perception. In the early stages of my professional journey, I was driven by a strong desire to establish myself in the field. This ambition was evident in my eagerness to accept speaking engagements and attend various events around the globe, believing that such visibility and engagement were crucial for career advancement. This phase was marked by a relentless pursuit of professional opportunities, often at the expense of personal time and family commitments. Read more>>

Jiabao Sun | Artist

We, as human beings, spend our lives chasing and researching balance. The balance between life and work, the balance between us and others, the balance within ourselves. I don’t think I’ve been able to find a balance all the time – it’s a very difficult and lifetime subject. Read more>>

Tyric Bacon | Filmmaker

That work/life balance is something I have to always re-calibrate and work with, especially when one part begins encroaching on the other. It’s funny because I recently stumbled across an Instagram post that said to divide your year into seasons of work followed by seasons of rest. I feel like that system is something I resonate with, as opposed to trying to strive for a perfect balance within a single day. It’s how I intuitively organized my 2023. When it comes to adopting a healthy work/life balance, what’s most important is nurturing the relationship with yourself. Being able to actually pivot between these two parts of your life, and in regards to the Instagram post, knowing when to shift from one season to another. Not constantly saying to yourself “I’ll relax when, I’ll start this project when, etc.” That’s the issue I’ve personally ran into in the past. I have a hard time shifting between these two parts of my life and one inevitably begins to take over completely. As a result, I developed an unhealthy habit of just always being busy and having something on my plate. Since I already knew I had trouble pivoting, it made sense to just always keep myself working. My thought process was “better for me to constantly be working than constantly doing nothing.” You can see just how dysfunctional that way of thinking is. Thankfully, I’ve deconstructed that mindset and begun to really work with myself. It was important to establish trust and faith with myself and also give myself grace, regardless of what season I’m currently in. While also holding myself accountable with what I needed to do. Balance is crucial within everything we do and it’s important to not operate on extreme ends of the spectrum when it comes to how we live and how we respond to different aspects our lives. Read more>>

K. J. Eldridge | Novelist and Comic Book Writer and Artist

When I first started writing stories and creating comics, I was single with no real responsibilities outside of myself. Work/Life balance wasn’t really a huge issue for me. I worked my day job, engaged in a social life, had fun playing video games or pursuing many other interests, while still having plenty of time to work on all of my artistic endeavors. Read more>>