A host of factors, developments, and dynamics have made most industries more competitive than ever. As a result so many of us wonder whether there is still such a thing as work-life balance. We reached out to the community to hear perspectives on finding the right balance.

Cas Guevara | Fiber artist & Author

Being self-employed has a lot of benefits, namely that I can set my own schedule. Sometimes this looks like working through the night and canceling plans because I’m trying to meet a deadline, other times it means I can take a rest day or two without having to argue for why it’s necessary. Burnout and I are old friends at this point– even earlier this year I made the mistake of trying to work through burnout and only made myself less productive by not letting myself rest, so I’m well acquainted with how necessary it is to take time for friends, sleep, and downtime. Read more>>

Brielle Salamone | Doctoral Student of Traditional Chinese Medicine

As a 27-year-old doctoral student of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), my understanding of balance has evolved significantly over time. Growing up, I thought balance meant trying to do it all—juggling school, work, social life, self-care—without letting anything drop. But shortly after starting my TCM studies I learned that this approach just led to burnout and stress. Read more>>

Matt Alcobia

The work life balance is tough to manage. I’m very motivated and focused on my business succeeding, so I dedicate as much time as necessary to have positive results. At the end of the day it’s up to me to make it happen! Initially I worked day and night establishing the business. There were a lot of sacrifices and it wasn’t great for spending time with my kids. Since then I have developed a lot of systems and automated parts of the business so that I could free up more time to dedicate to my family. I’m still trying to find that perfect work life balance, It’s tough. Read more>>

Amalia Boyles

Overtime my days were getting busy and chaotic. Everything changed when I started time blocking my calendar. It’s sort of a no-brainer but being a real estate agent in and out of the office, plus trying to fit in relationships, personal appointments, and hobbies – time blocking is essential to keep your day and week in order. I like to organize (i.e. color code) my calendar by high priority, medium priority, low priority, and personal. Overtime I have also developed a sense of what days are more likely to get extra busy with last minute requests (i.e. Fridays or right before deadlines), whereas my Mondays tend to be my favorite day to spend in the office planning my week and working on marketing. Read more>>