In what ways do you distinguish your business from your life? And what are some of your biggest challenges in making those distinctions?

Thanks Kevin. I agree on existing harmoniously. It's interesting you ask how we can make work "fall in sync with other aspects of our daily life." I'm reading "The E-Myth Revisited" on my long commute two and from the city, and the concept applies. Working "on" harmony rather than "in" harmony, like working "on" your business instead of "in" your business. Then again, if you work "on" harmony, you might very well get it all "in harmony" or "in sync." One thing I've discovered that seems to be key, is distinguishing between your "business" and your "life." As a one person show, that distinction seems counter intuitive, and it seems to run counter to the "me me me" culture. However, it is an important distinction to make, and an important step toward managing competing interests, achieving harmony, work/life balance...whatever phrase you choose.

I like how you replace "balance" with "managing competing interests," Gwynne. Perhaps, work/life balance should be seen less as a way to divide up competing interests and more of a way to make those competing interests exist harmoniously. Instead of a balancing act, it seems like we really want something that looks more like a completed puzzle...Instead of countering work with equal personal time, how can we make work fall in sync with other aspects of our daily life?

Balance is one of those words that is getting tossed around often these days, and might very well fall into the "overused" category. Perhaps managing competing interests, though a clunky phrase, better suits the quote. You can boil it down to priorities, or finding the right mix. Or social norms. It's been rather interesting to see where people put their focus these days, be it family, education, health, finding a job or other options not previously considered. One thing that gets overlooked, though, is that there is no "one mix fits all" solution. People like to think there is, though. If they just do (A) (B) and (C) like others, then they will have what others have. Our culture seems to re-enforce that kind of thinking, too, which makes it harder to step back and consider the bigger picture.