Searching for Balance: A Late-Night Reflection on Womanhood, Success & the Hustle Culture

After getting through the COVID-19 pandemic and achieving the milestone of surviving more than a decade in the corporate world, often juggling multiple gigs at once, I find myself reflecting on the ever-elusive concept of work-life balance, a term frequently heard, yet it feels like trying to catch mist with bare hands. With Yellow September—a month dedicated to mental health and suicide prevention—over us, I sit in front of my laptop during another sleepless night, considering the lessons learned along the way about the expectations chimera, the faces of success, and the way-too-heavy burden of perfectionism.

The Corporate Gaze?

Being a woman in corporate brings countless layers of responsibility and criticism, both external and internal. Structural misogyny, domestic duties, emotional labor , professional requirements, and academic pursuits pile up like an endless Jenga tower. The fallacy of “manage everything” is one I have internalized for years.

Work while they sleep, learn while they party, and save while they spend to live as they dream—or die trying. Be praised for attending work despite an injury, illness, or mental breakdown. Be rewarded for ignoring the need for rest, care, and body repair.

The thing is: This mindset jeopardizes so much of our experience as human beings and leaves little to no room for joy or simple rest. Even activities we once loved—reading, painting, playing music—become things we feel guilty for indulging in if they do not somehow improve work performance. Theodor W. Adorno criticized that hobbies often feel like distractions, seen as frivolous pursuits rather than essential to humanity.

I have learned the hard way that rest, self-care, and joy are not luxuries, they are survival tools.

The Corporate Asks

There are specific mottos in the corporate realm that we have been conditioned to adapt, perform, and comply with, but that keep us up, collectively, in a poor state.

"It is part of the job"—Often used to justify overwork or directionless tasks. "I will be available"—Being available 24/7 does not make you a better employee. "Everything runs on chaos around here, it is what it is"—No one thrives in chaos, and no company prospers in it either.?

Content creators Laura Whaley and Ameinda Of The Silva use workplace frustrations as fuel for their relatable and witty content creation, reminding us that these are not isolated occurrences, but the need for corps to create environments where employees thrive, not just survive.?

Companies are responsible for providing the workforce clarity, structure, and respect—prioritizing personal well-being, not sacrificing it. This is not just good for the bottom line; it is essential for building a sustainable society. To truly foster such environments, companies must also work to actively mitigate harmful biases through thoughtful corporate equity, inclusion, and safety policies.

The Routine Play Out

Reluctantly, establishing a routine has been one of the most effective strategies for maintaining sanity. As pointed out in Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less , focusing on tuning the right chords in a noisy crowd by repetitively asking myself what truly matters today, tomorrow, in a week, month, or year, has been helping me to reduce clutter and structuring my time around what is important—me. Crucial in avoiding encountering burnoutinho (again).

Still, the most daunting task remains drawing a line for corporate-dedicated time and everything else. Too often, I fall into the compensation trap by skipping lunch or carrying on outside office hours for "lost productivity", but I am finally realizing that setting mental boundaries is essential.

The apps Lojong and Headspace have helped me stay grounded on the fact that my worth does not hinge on how many tasks I tick off my to-do list and everything will work out as long as I have a plan, ask for help when needed, and way before I have reached my break point, and trust the process.

The Rest Revolution

In a dynamic that glorifies the grind, resting can feel like rebellion. A much-needed rebellion I have come to embrace as, like the machines we regularly compare ourselves to, we also need maintenance.

Byung-Chul Han explores in The Burnout Society how this obsession with hyper-productivity leads us to self-exploitation, where we are both the oppressor and the oppressed, leaving many popcorn brains on the verge of exhaustion. We cram our schedules and speed up audio, videos, podcasts, and what else is available, all while becoming detached from our organic pleas to maximize time .

A groundbreaking discovery for me was the fact that rest has many faces. Fortunately, none include mindlessly scrolling through a phone—true rest recharges us mentally and physically, restores creativity, and allows reconnection with ourselves and others.?A few indicators:

Physical

• Deficit Symptoms: Sore muscles/Fatigue/Sluggishness.
• How to Achieve: Maintain a consistent sleep schedule/Engage in restorative activities like yoga, stretching, or massages.

Mental

• Deficit Symptoms: Poor Concentration/Brain Fog/Forgetfulness.
• How to Achieve: Practice mindfulness or meditation/Take short breaks throughout the day/Engage in leisure activities such as reading or walking.

Sensory

• Deficit Symptoms: Irritability/Headaches/Hypersensitivity.
• How to Achieve: Limit screen time and take digital detoxes/Spend time in quiet environments or nature/Reduce exposure to bright lights and loud noises.

Creative

• Deficit Symptoms: Lack of Inspiration/Creative Blocks.
• How to Achieve: Immerse yourself in nature or art/Seek new experiences/Allow time for daydreaming or unstructured activities.

Emotional

• Deficit Symptoms: Emotional Drain/Feeling Overwhelmed.
• How to Achieve: Seek professional therapy/Practice journaling or emotional expression/Engage in open conversations with trusted friends.

Social

• Deficit Symptoms: Feeling Drained/Lonely Even Around Others.
• How to Achieve: Spend quality time with supportive individuals/Set boundaries with social commitments that feel overwhelming.

Spiritual

• Deficit Symptoms: Lack of motivation/Feelings of disconnection.
• How to Achieve: Explore your ikigai/Spend time in nature/Engage in volunteer work/Practice gratitude.

The Harmony Codex

Ultimately, balance is not a fixed state, it is fluid, constantly shifting from existence’s demands. Some days corporate work takes center stage, others it is family or personal care. Though guilt still lingers, I know now that success is not at all about perfection, it is about grace, and evaluating it depends on the yardsticks and viewpoint we adopt to measure it.

While seeking better parameters, self-consciousness proves to be a key one to put things into perspective. No small task, correct? But one that is profoundly transformative as the recent reading of Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive helped me access.

As Thais Godinho and Yasmim Barroso taught me, accountability, intentionality, and compassion are crucial in crafting a life that feels whole. Release rigid schedules that focus on control and instead embrace tools that allow building habits that serve us as the complex individuals we are, not just employees or career-driven role accumulators.

In a post-pandemic world, moving away from binary views of what life should be and instead shaping the present to reflect what truly matters to you by constantly asking yourself meaningful questions and allowing the answers to evolve as you grow and change.

Extra Resource

The GTD method offers a practical framework to help organize tasks and priorities—empowering you to focus without getting caught in the mind cage of trying to do it all.