#work-life-balance

#work-life-balance

I studied abroad in Spain, and really loved it there. It opened my world and gave me more perspective, so I knew I wanted to go abroad after I graduated. I was interested in bioenergy, and that industry isn't very developed in the US. After doing some research, I landed on Finland, which has a huge forestry and bioenergy industry. The Nordics, in general, also have a lot of English-language master's degree programs. Through a Fulbright scholarship, I moved to Finland to pursue my master's degree.

I wish this was a one-off blip in my regimented friendship schedule, but all through 2025 I played the world's slowest game of message tennis. I'd invite a pal for dinner, only for the world to turn, the seasons pass, grey hairs gather at my temples, before a date was finally locked in. This sentiment seems to be common among my circle.

Germany's part-time workforce has indeed increased significantly over the decades, but that is due in large part to families no longer being able to survive on a single income, as well as technological changes that have left many people choosing part-time work over no work at all. Citing data from Germany's federal statistics agency, DeStatis, MIT has pointed out that in 2022, 27% of part-time workers in Germany reported their reasons for not working full-time as simply "a desire to work part-time."

They may be spending a lot of combined time at the office and commuting, or just putting in a lot of hours both at work and at home. Fixing that problem can't be done abstractly, though. If you're going to address the balance of work and life activities, you have to start getting specific about where your time is going and where you really want it to go.

The effort comes as competition for AI talent intensifies worldwide and tech workers in the US grapple with layoffs, burnout, and visa complications. According to BCG's 2024 talent tracker report, the US remained dominant in attracting AI talent worldwide. Already known for its tech scene, Finland, with a population of around 5.6 million, is positioning itself as a place where American tech workers can find a better work-life balance without sacrificing their careers - a notable contrast to the famous grindset of Silicon Valley.

In reality, the job of my dreams consisted of overnight flights where I'd get little to no rest, then hit the ground running as soon as I arrived at my destinations. After I'd fly back home from some trips, it would take me nearly a week to recover from jet lag. My stress levels were often cranked up, dealing with flight delays, deadlines, and navigation across different states and countries.

Denise and I met at our new faculty orientation, which seems like a lifetime ago, and grew up together as academics. She chose administration early on, and I taught for decades before giving up faculty status to become a full-time fellowship director. As she advanced from dean to provost to president, my role as the administrative "trailing" spouse altered in both subtle and overt ways at each new institution, but the core was always rooted in our dedication to the universities we served and to each other.

Somewhere along the way, I started wearing burnout like a badge of honour. In weekly lab check-ins, I make sure to mention I was in the lab over the weekend - slipping in a quiet signal that I was going above and beyond. I've made sure to send e-mails early in the morning or late at night to demonstrate I was working long hours.

"I married somebody who is the opposite of me. He is so organized," Lawrence said during an appearance on Tuesday's episode of the "Smartless" podcast. "He's an anchor. Everything is ordered, like on the sink. Like I have to, you know, like keep the closet doors closed, and I have like my little jobs that I work really hard to do," she said.

Michael Bloomberg may be worth more than $100 billion, but he doesn't think that salary is everything when it comes to early jobs. "People make the mistake of going to work for a place where they get paid the most. Particularly when you're young, that's not what life is about," Bloomberg said in an interview with Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, that aired on January 7.

That title's not a typo. The 5-to-9 is the time period before and after the 9-to-5 workday. Social media influencers have racked up millions of views showing off their outside-of-work schedules-#5to9routine has more than 35 million views on TikTok. During these videos, quick cuts of clips show off aspirational mornings and evenings packed with journaling, working out, meditating, cleaning, side hustling, and more. The trend's an offshoot of the " 5am club," which counts Mark Zuckerberg and Michelle Obama as early-rising members.

I was off work for a few weeks, but without paid leave I had to return sooner than doctors advised. I worked from home for a few months since I still couldn't drive. I loved the challenge of the work, the way no day was ever the same, and I had thrived on that pace. But I was still recovering. Winded by the smallest physical activity, I struggled with memory, and words sometimes came out scrambled or not at all.

Planning a career pivot raises some big questions: in which direction should you move, how do you make the shift, and, crucially, when is the right time to do it? In 2025, Business Insider spoke to professionals who made mid-career pivots, including some who did so more than once. Have you made an unconventional career move? If you're comfortable discussing it with a reporter, please fill out this quick form.

The pressure to provide and increase my salary is starting to feel interminable

I was entirely on my own when I was 19. While I was enrolled in college, I worked full-time at night in the call center of a fintech company, Jack Henry & Associates. It was a gritty, hands-on role, but an exciting time to be with the company, which was growing quickly. I didn't have a typical college experience. I worked a lot so I could pay for my car and home. At work, I put my hand up any chance I could. I was never the smartest person, but I worked really hard and was always willing to figure out problems. Even if I'd never done something, I would figure it out. I couldn't afford to fail, personally or professionally.

After the pandemic, I realized life was too short to keep saying "one day." Sitting on the dock at my parents' cottage in Ontario, the sun melting into the lake, it hit us: "If not now, when?" Almost a year later, in September 2023, we packed up our two kids and moved to the South of France for a year.

even when women are the primary breadwinners, they perform two to four times more housework than men. Their research explores how households could benefit if lower-income men adjusted their schedules to take on more domestic tasks and allowed higher-income women to work longer hours outside the home. Their analysis revealed that the time women spend on housework decreases after divorce, while men's time increases.

You quit the 9-to-5 to have more control over your time. You wanted flexibility, autonomy, and the freedom to structure your days around your life instead of someone else's schedule. Yet here you are, apologizing to a client for not responding to a message immediately. Feeling guilty on a Tuesday afternoon when you've only worked for four hours that day. Checking Slack at 9:00 PM because that's been your routine for most of your working career.

Research going back almost 100 years finds that when you have a task to complete, you are highly motivated to finish it. It stays active in your memory, and you seek opportunities to get it done. That tendency is normally a good one. But on a break, it is a factor that will drive your mind back to the workplace-even when you're supposed to be relaxing. To give yourself the best chance to chill, see if you can close out key tasks before you leave. At a minimum, reach a good stopping place on tasks so that you don't feel like you have left them incomplete.

Before my husband and I had children, I earned more than him. I had a senior role at a well-known brand and then, 20 years ago, started a leadership development consultancy. When we had children, I decided to work fewer hours to take care of our boys, who are now 14 and 12. As I was self-employed and could therefore be more flexible with my work hours, I took charge of everything at home, including getting the boys ready for school,