The Myth of Work-Life Balance (And What I Do Instead)

Part 2 of 4 in “The Hustle Framework” series.

Everyone loves to talk about work-life balance like it’s something you can just schedule into your calendar. But if you’ve ever worked a 14-hour day, been pulled in three directions before 9 a.m., or had to troubleshoot a high-priority incident while your dinner went cold, you already know it’s bullshit.

Balance isn’t a goal. It’s a myth. Chasing it will burn you out faster than a failed storage array.

What I’ve learned instead is this: I don’t need balance. I need rhythm — a way to keep showing up without breaking down.

The Productivity Trap

I used to try to time-block my entire day. Wake up, knock out the workout, handle the meetings, cook something healthy, check the markets, fix things around the house, close out a customer project, squeeze in time with my husband, and maybe sleep. It was exhausting.

I thought if I could just organize hard enough, I could make it all fit. I tried everything: color-coded calendars, reminder apps, meal prep Sundays, habit trackers. At one point, I even had Siri sending me hourly stretch and breathe reminders. But every time, I still ended the day feeling like I missed something important.

The Tuesday That Broke Me

What finally broke the illusion was a Tuesday.

I was on a demo call with a prospective client, one of those high-stakes, fast-moving kinds. Ten minutes in, my internet dropped — not just a hiccup — it was down down hard. I jumped to a backup connection. While that booted, I got a text from Nick that we had to dig up the septic tank because the leech field had failed. As I sprinted upstairs to get a better signal for my hotspot, I slipped, slammed into a cabinet, and cracked my screen on the way down.

Soaked, bruised, and mildly concussed, I watched a deal I had prepped all week for fall apart. And all I could think was: so much for balance.

What finally broke the illusion was a Tuesday.

Rhythm Saved Me

That was the moment I realized life doesn’t care about your perfect routine. Real life throws everything at you at once. There is no perfect system that saves you from chaos. You have to learn to move with it.

Rhythm saved me. Rhythm says: adjust the tempo. Don’t quit, just shift.

Permission to Pivot

Sometimes, that means finishing the work day with a bourbon and starting the next one slow. Sometimes, it means baking brownies at 10 p.m. because it’s the only free moment I had. And sometimes, yeah, it means collapsing into bed without finishing half the things I meant to do and being okay with that.

Momentum Over Perfection

It took time to unlearn the productivity shame. That little voice that says if you didn’t check off every box, the day was a waste. But rhythm isn’t about boxes. It’s about direction.

It’s about knowing what matters most today and doing just enough to keep moving. Rhythm lets me pivot without spiraling. It gives me permission to have “off” days without making them failures.

Some days, my rhythm is deep work in the morning and admin in the afternoon. Some days, it’s back-to-back calls and catching up in the evening. Some days, it’s pulling back entirely because my brain or body says “not today.”

Showing Up Anyway

Rhythm isn’t a system — it’s a mindset. It’s being in tune with what you can actually handle, not what you promised a planner two weeks ago. It’s trusting that momentum matters more than perfection.

And most importantly: it’s forgiving yourself when the rhythm is messy.

I’ve had weeks where everything fell apart — missed deadlines, dropped balls, forgotten tasks. And still, I showed up. Still, I came back the next day. That’s rhythm. That’s resilience.

Ride the Waves

I’ve learned to ride the waves.

I’ve learned that one bad day, or three, doesn’t undo everything. You don’t rebuild your life in perfect order. You do it in starts and stumbles and occasional faceplants.

Some of the best ideas, the most honest breakthroughs, and the most human moments have come out of those unplanned, uneven days. Because that’s where real life happens — in the spaces between the systems.

You don’t need a perfect system. You need a way to ride the waves. You need rhythm.

So yeah, the hustle isn’t balanced. But it moves. And for me? That’s enough.

Next up: Part 3 — the rhythm that got me through burnout, and the four rules that keep me moving forward.