My usual answer to the question 'how do you establish work-life balance' is 'If you want to get there faster, there is no work-life balance'.

While harsh, it rang true for me at the time, but as work got progressively busier, I realized in order for me to function like a normal human being I would need to carve out some 'Me Time'.

It began as a scheduled 2 hours in the evening in my digital calendar where an alarm rang at 10PM to tell me to shut my computer so I could do what normal people do in the evening, try to relax, watch tv, read, whatever it takes to unwind for a good night's sleep.

With the arrival of my brother's daughter close to 4 years ago, my 'Me Time' transformed into babysitting time. Fast forward a few years, now that she's grown into a walking, talking, jumping 'big girl' (her words, not mine), I again have a bit more flexibility and time to figure out what constitutes the best use of my 'Me Time'. 

My process of figuring out the best use of my Me Time was to reflect on which moments within my day I felt the most relaxed and happy. Sounds simple doesn't it?

For some people it's when they workout, for other it's when they are riding their bike home from work... for me, it is spending time with my niece (because kids don't have a care in the world and other than wanting candies and toys from you, have no hidden agenda) and my alone time reading or playing video games (you read that right). 

Overworking your brain drains your creativity, so you must learn when and how to take a break that works best to refuel you. So take a moment now to reflect upon all of your activities in the past week. At what moment in time did you do something that made your mind, body, and soul relax? Do this often enough and you might just achieve what we call work-life balance.