Aibu to think perfect work life balance isn't possible.

[Worklifebalance2026]

Aibu to think the perfect work life balance is hard to achieve? And some area is always going to be lacking?

Or do you have the perfect work life balance? If so, what do you do?

My previous job was engaging and rewarding. But staying on top of everything came at the expense of unpaid overtime and not being able to switch off at night. This impacted on my time with DC. I either had to work late, or my brain was frazzled and I was unengaged.

I moved and now have no overtime and can switch off in the evening and enjoy time with my kids.bBut the work days feel long and boring and I'm not motivated during the work day. Mondays are hard because I feel dread at sitting at a desk for the next 5 days.

Has anyone truly been able to get the mix right? Wondering if I should look again. My location is a big factor in that there isn't much within a 1 hour drive of where I live.

I know this goes against the grain, but I think it is v possible in the right job. I work full time, am senior, and am well rewarded (I’m the main breadwinner), but have chosen a firm and area of law where it’s possible to WFH 3 days a week most weeks (i WFH 2 days a week once or twice a month I’d say) and I’ve got flexibility to do things like school run before I log on, or nip out for a short school recital etc (have 3 school age kids). I do log back on probably 3 evenings out of 5, but it’s extremely rare that I need to log on over the weekend. If WFH I can always stop in time to cook dinner. Housework etc is 50/50 with DH. I’d say I carry the organisational and mental load (eg I sort all school stuff, clubs, dr, dentist etc etc, but I have time for that… I feel pretty balanced to be honest! I work hard and it’s high stress but only when working, if that makes sense. It doesn’t seep into home life. It’s definitely possible. I guess it had to be made possible because I have to earn the high salary I do…if I had a DH who earned a lot I’m sure part time would work even better… I’ve never had that option! DH works FT too is just a low earner given his chosen career

Yes I find my balance pretty perfect, 9-2 mostly from home. In meetings a lot so plenty of interaction and the role has peaks and troughs so I have very quiet periods.

I then get a hour free time before heading off for school run at 3, then some afternoons DD has activities so I take her to those, or go to the gym, dog walk etc.

We do rely heavily on DH salary for me to have this freedom though

Hmm I don't think anyone feels their life is perfect all the time though surely? But I think me and DH both have a pretty good work/life balance. Neither of us are high earners though and we both work part-time. We both have some flexibility I do some home-working (usually 2 days out of 4 but sometimes less and occasionally more). Neither of us have significant commutes. We have to use very little wraparound and holiday cover. But for that quality of life we've sacrificed pay and in my case progression and an actual career. For us it's worth it but other people may have made different choices and I could understand that too.

I wfh, self employed contractor. Can choose how many hours I work and set my rate. I don’t take any work home. And it’s easy, fairly well paid and I enjoy it. Sometimes I work 30 hours per week, sometimes 45. Not for everyone but have my mortgage paid off and kids are older so it works for me

I have a pretty good work life balance which is unusual for a teacher.

My rule is if I can’t do it between the hours of 8 and 5 I am not doing it, the only exception being exam marking during exam periods.

And that’s it. No big secret. I just refuse to do it 🤷‍♀️

Mine's pretty good. It was challenging working full time as a single parent when my daughter was younger, but it's much easier now she's in her teens. I'm in a senior position, enjoy my job, I don't work stupid hours, it's hybrid and flexible so I can take time out if I need to and make it up later. Sometimes it feels like I'm too knackered to do the housework, but then I give myself a break and leave the washing up if I want to. It's impossible to have a perfect balance, but a decent one is more than achievable.

It absolutely is possible. My dsis is a highly paid professional with an interesting, stimulating specialist job that she does flexibly from home, 9-3 four days a week. She takes the kids to school and picks them up every day and has one day off to get stuff done. I envy her life massively but it took many years of training and some luck to land the fully remote job she now has.

Self employment changed things for me. I work school hours but then if really need to can do a bit more when DC in bed/playing/watching TV. Means don't have to stress about holidays, can attend school events etc.

I’m happy with mine. I work 9-3 three days a week, so can always pick DS1 up from school, DS2 is in nursery those 3 days, so I then have 2 days off with them.

Of course we are fairly reliant on DH’s salary.

I’m lucky enough to have 2 well paid flexible jobs but when I need to I have to put all
the hours in and more
On other occasions I can coast - it’s taken me years to realise that I’m not paid for what I do but what I can do! And who I know
At 60+ I should outsource more like cleaning and gardening which would free up
more relaxation time - but it’s hard to find reliable people and I’m growing to accept that sometimes layers of dust and weeds are the price to pay for my sanity
When I was a much younger single mum - all fed non dead was my mantra now it’s hygienically clean and good food but take me as you find me

I also think that many of us (myself included in the past) can spend an awful lot of downtime during work hours. After having kids, I developed a heads down arse up approach to work. I’ll have a chat over a short lunch but spend the rest working. I work similar hours -8-5 ish - but I work super smart, don’t fanny around toying with ideas or fonts or layouts, and just get the job done. I am an inventive, creative, reflective teacher, so I’m not just churning out the same stuff all the time, but I have just learned to be efficient and speedy during work hours. I see so many teachers hanging around late but chatting about nonsense or spending literally an hour working out fonts and layouts to PowerPoints and then wonder why they have to work late. I guess every job involves learning what genuinely matters and only sweating that stuff in order to stay sane.

I agree on boundaries though. Other than a safeguarding incident I do not breach my hours and keep a strong but kind boundary. Everyone respects that if you’re good at your job and get it done properly.

I work part time in an easy no overtime/ stress job. I enjoy it but it only works because it’s part time. If I did the same job 40 hours a week I would be bored stiff. I’ve also done mentally challenging jobs that I loved but also have exhausted me . This is the only manageable situation I have found.

I agree completely. I can do what I do for 4 hours a day, which is office management, accounts and payroll etc. for a small business, but I'd dread the days if I had to stay til 5.

I'll go back full time when DS is older but I don't know into what. I've got 3 areas in which I worked 5-10 years that I could go back into, but the one I loved got a bit torpedoed by COVID and hasn't recovered. I was last in financial services which is heavily regulated and very very stressful if you make an error.

I work Mon - Thu in an interesting job with my own team. It's enough of a challenge to make the days go by quickly but when I'm off, I'm off. I'll never go back to 5 days.