What do you do if your career goals are overshadowing your work-life balance?

It's crucial to reassess priorities and boundaries. Take a step back to evaluate what truly matters in life. Consider setting limits and schedules to maintain balance. Seek support from mentors or colleagues who have navigated similar challenges. Remember, achieving career goals shouldn't come at the expense of personal well-being.

I am reminded of the following lines from W.H.Davies’s poem Leisure - “what is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.” It is true that often we are so consumed in pursuing our career goals that we tend to sacrifice our work-life balance. Take a pause, and reflect on your current situation. Assess whether your career goals are consuming too much of your time and energy. Are you neglecting personal well-being, relationships, or hobbies? Acknowledge any imbalance and commit to making changes.

This assessment is a continuous one. It requires been mindful and brutal with the truth to yourself. Your assessment might require you account for your work hours in terms of productivity. This is because your productivity and contribution at work are also contributory factors to the quality the balance you are trying to create.

Yes, setting boundaries is really great. In my experience crossing boundaries repeatedly is an indication that I have either being procrastinating or refusing to acknowledge that some tasks are not my strong point. So it helps me to retrace and redress.

If you are not able to maintain balance between work and personal life, then it might be due to lack of management. You should prioritize work or family. When you have more work then dedicate more time to work. Other days when you have less work, give time to family. Avoid prioritizing unimportant works over family.

An important approach that I am currently trying is to create routine. It is usually very difficult at the start but can turn out to be very efficient as your emotions and biology syncs

Achieving balance is a juggling act between more than just work and life. It's balance between your personal relationships, career, education and growth, your hobbies, rest. And it's never an even split - at times you have to invest more into your relationships. Sometimes you have to study hard to achieve a certification or formal education. Sometimes you have to switch your attention to your family when it's needed. If you are not satisfied with your career, then it may need more attention. It's not toxic or evil to do that as some have made it out to be. It's simply finding the right balance at a specific moment in time. A balance that will likely change next week or next month or next year. Be clear about what is most important to you.