The Coronavirus has given many us an opportunity to pause and think about life, our purpose, and even the right work life balance.  What’s your perspective and has it changed over time?

Brandon Holland | Film Director & Show Runner

I’ve been thinking more about work life balance lately as it has been extremely difficult lately. I realize that I miss some moments that are very important to the people around me but still expect the same support from them. I realize that a life without balance however is a very lonely one, so take all the time you need. When you’re the boss you decide when you have had enough. Don’t miss the important moments, work will always be there; family and friends may not. Read more>>

Goldi gold | Visual Artist

I know early in the game I got caught up with that motto. I’ll Sleep when I’m DEAD”. Sheesh! that’s not healthy. It’s not about staying up all night to prove to people you doing something. it’s about time Management so you can do that one project and a couple of future projects and still get some Rest. I can stay up if I have too. But now a days. I really map everything out to avoid that. I need my little 4 hours of sleep. hahaha. Read more>>

Jonathan Dockery | Founder & Owner

Making sure to balance the obsessive mind of a business owner is so important. The challenging factor with The City Menus is that being a news website it’s constantly on my mind and hard to shut off. Thankfully through automation, phone calls are auto forwarded during high productivity times during the day to an answering service. Once at a place to answer the calls and respond, it can be done with clarity and thoughtfulness. A team to delegate tasks to helps declutter things that are lower priorities. As a business grows the balance gets better with the right mental awareness, seeking a business advisor or therapist is strongly recommended. Read more>>

Stephanie Polhemus | Theatrical Manager & Scenic Designer

My work/life balance has fluctuated for sure over time. When I first started out there was no balance. I would work all of the time and often sacrificed sleep in order to get things done. In the last two years, I have beet attempting to work on that balance. The first thing I did was to not sacrifice sleep and to be more honest with myself and others about what I can accomplish. This meant asking upfront for extensions of deadlines and sometimes saying no. This was something I was terrified to do at first, but found that being upfront about expectations was more than welcomed. Now, I did not always succeed in this balance, but it was much more manageable. Read more>>

Bindiya Gandhi | Medical Director

Balance is so important especially once I becomes a mother. Being career minded, independent and an entrepreneur is hard on it’s own but adding motherhood to the mix takes the journey to whole other level. This is even more evident now that we are in a pandemic and we are working from home with our kids at home. Combining work, life, home balance is the key to an overall balanced life. Before kids, I was a work-a-holic, taking on more projects, working when I got home into the night. Now I want to spend time with my children when I come home. I work when they’re sleeping if I’m working from home. Time in valuable, and the energy and influence I have on my young kids now is profound. Read more>>

Tramika Craddock | Lifestyle Coach & Speaker for Moms

Let me start by saying I do not believe there is a perfect balance in life. I do however believe you can have a healthy balance! A healthy balance is knowing when to shift rhythm to make sure you are taking care of your priorities. Priorities can change monthly, weekly and some times even daily or within the day. Knowing how and when to shift rhythm is essential to having a healthy balance so you don’t experience fatigue or being overwhelmed. When I first started my business, I did not have a healthy balance or set scheduling/boundaries. I worked all day and night because I was so excited about launching and so excited that my ideas were flowing. Due to this, not intentionally, I was neglecting my family and my household responsibilities. Read more>>

Onaje Taylor | Entrepreneur & Wardrobe Stylist

In the beginning my work life balance was non existent. I thought it would be a piece of cake to take on everything at one time without a time agenda. That’s when life became stressful. I was trying to balance my 9-5 gig , a long with business endeavors and a social life without any type of time management. Unfortunately when your work life balance is off, it reflects in your business. So of course anything that affects your money had to be rectified. Once I started to fully prioritize my time and sketch my days out ahead of time , the load began to lighten because things were put into perspective. All the spectrums of my life from business to social could flow freely because I would think about the importance of keeping them balanced and achieving my goals . I started not only prioritizing my time, but maximizing it. Read more>>

Corrie Ladd | Artist

The idea of a work/life balance is a sometimes foreign concept for an individual that owns their own business. For me, one of the prime motivations for starting Korai Goods was to have sovereignty over my time. This entails making 1,000 micro decisions every day, that inch me closer to both my personal and professional goals. Whether that be factoring in rest, which is essential, or deciding to work late into the night to get an order out. The balance comes in identifying one’s own set of priorities, and trying your best to take steps in that direction… easier said than done, for sure. My goal today, versus 6 years ago, is to remember that I’m human. That I make mistakes. That I need time to recuperate. That I need to talk to family and friends. That I need to see the ocean at least once a year. And that building a family is right up there with building a business. Read more>>

Tammy Huynh | Founder

When I first started, I think the drive was so intense that I felt invisible most days. I was so motivated, so driven, and so passionate that I was willing to sacrifice a lot of things: social life, mental health, and my time toward other things like hobbies or family time. I still battle this, 3 years down the road but I think I’ve gotten a lot better. Things like setting up boundaries have helped. Telling myself “If I didn’t get it done earlier in the week, it’s okay” and not pushing to work 70-80 hour weeks. However, I do think it’s a journey that everyone should go through. The intense time of working SO HARD on your business to then being able to set the boundaries and lessening the work load and perfectionism is a great journey that teaches you patience. Because I was so driven, it often drove me literally into the wall. Read more>>

Bryshan White | Actor

Balance is something that I have constantly searched and yearned for, especially with my journey as an Actor. I’m a part of a generation in which we all feel that we have to be working our hardest, and to our fullest potential every second of the day. That is quite tiring to be honest, considering that some days all I want to do is eat ice cream and watch crappy reality TV and forget about my problems. This “work work work” idea is also something that is plastered all over social media which is tricky because sometimes a simple scroll on Instagram makes me question if I’m even doing enough, why I don’t have what others do, etc. My work/life balanced has changed and evolved simply because I’ve learned to not put unnecessary pressure on myself. What works for me, doesn’t work for everyone, and vice verse. Read more>>