Work-Life Balance is a Myth (here’s what I do instead)

At the start of every year, I notice the same wave of articles. Perhaps you do too. They promise that this will be the year you finally achieve work-life balance. If you adopt the right morning routine, the right productivity tool, the right habit stack, everything will fall into place. Work will flourish. Family will feel cared for. Your health will improve. You will somehow glide through it all with calm efficiency.

I read those pieces and often admire them. They are usually well-intended and sometimes quite thoughtful. However, I read them as an operator, not as a spectator. From where I stand, something important is missing.

Here is the harsh truth. Work-life balance, at least at meaningful levels of responsibility, is a myth.

Not because balance is a bad idea. It is attractive for a reason. It suggests symmetry, stability, and equal weights on both sides of a scale. But once you are responsible not only for your own output but also for institutions, teams, capital, reputations, and decisions that carry consequences beyond your desk, life stops behaving like a balanced equation.

Some weeks demand everything from you. Some months do. Sometimes family requires your full attention. Sometimes your health interrupts your plans. Sometimes a strategic decision cannot wait just because your calendar indicates it should.

The mistake is not imbalance. Imbalance is inevitable.

The mistake is allowing that imbalance to become accidental.

For the past two years, I have stopped chasing balance. Instead, I have been building something else. A deliberate combination of systems that allows me to pursue coherence across a year rather than equilibrium within a day. It has not been elegant. It has not always been tidy. But it has been intentional.

Whenever I’m asked how I handle work, family, making an impact, studying, side projects, and sometimes just taking a bit of rest, I always say that I don’t aim to balance everything perfectly. Instead, I focus on creating a sense of coherence in my life.

Let me explain what I mean.

I pursue coherence rather than balance.

The concept of balance is attractive because it implies stability. A flat surface. Equal weights on either side of the scale. Work-life balance, remember?

Executive life does not work that way.

At any meaningful level of leadership, imbalance is the default; it is not a failure state. There are weeks (even months) when work dominates because it must. There are times when family demands full attention. Phases when health, study, or reflection cannot be postponed without consequence.

The mistake is not an imbalance. The mistake is allowing the imbalance to become accidental.

I focus on coherence over a year rather than equilibrium within a day. The question I ask is not whether every week feels balanced, but whether the year’s overall flow makes sense, whether effort, recovery, growth, and meaning are distributed intentionally rather than reactively.

The tools I use are designed to enforce that coherence.

As an Operator, my Flow is Operational.

Flow, often described as being “in the zone”, is sometimes called a state of grace: intense focus, effortless engagement, time slipping away. That description is accurate but somewhat incomplete.

My flow does not arrive unannounced. I engineer it.

Flow reliably happens for me when four conditions intersect. One, the work must matter to me. Two, the work must be challenging enough to earn my respect. Three, I need to be skilled enough to handle it without panic; if not, I must pass it on. And four, it must connect to a broader MIG narrative, something that extends beyond the immediate task.

When those conditions are met, depth follows. When they are not, no level of motivation can make up for it.

I do not schedule flow optimistically but rather I schedule it defensively. Deep work blocks are reserved for strategy, writing, synthesis, and decisions that require original thought. Meetings, calls, and operational reviews are organised around that core, ensuring it remains protected. That is how I have been able to sustain my ongoing academic drive toward multiple postgraduate degrees, and I’m on my fourth unpublished manuscript.

In practice, what I am saying is that I am protecting fewer hours, not more. But I am protecting them absolutely, so I can mine their output absolutely as well.

My calendar is either a boundary or a confession

If there is one artefact I own that reveals my priorities with brutal honesty, it would be my calendar.

Executives often speak about values and intentions. Our calendars tell a clearer story. What is blocked. What is left open. What is endlessly rescheduled. What is never revisited.

I block time not just for tasks, but for roles.

There is a portion of my time dedicated to executive work, another to family, another to physical maintenance, another to academic study, and another to impact work and mentorship. I also protect time for exploration and unstructured thinking.

The walls of my porch are proof enough, lined with notes and sketches from Friday evenings spent with music, decent food, the occasional drink, and long stretches of thought that run well into the night, or the next morning.

Each category exists because, without deliberate allocation, it will be overshadowed by the most urgent voice in the room, which is almost always my work.

Time blocking is about containment, not about rigidity. It prevents one domain from quietly expanding into others. It also enhances presence. When time is consciously allocated, guilt diminishes and attention becomes sharper.

The Compression Principle

There is a widely recognised, seldom-challenged principle: work expands to fill the time allotted to it.

This principle is always active around me. My team knows, and I often emphasise that the earliest time to complete a task is ASAP. I just realised I didn’t fully explain to them why; many have said I “give pressure”, but the Compression Principle is why.

I personally always compress deadlines aggressively where possible. Tasks that could take a day are given half a day. Half-day tasks are allocated ninety minutes. This approach helps avoid analysis paralysis. It is not recklessness.

Compression forces decisions. It exposes which components of a task are essential and which are decorative. It reduces the temptation to over-prepare and increases the likelihood of completion.

At senior levels, productivity is rarely a function of mere effort. It is a function of decision hygiene.

Shorter timelines for better decisions improve that hygiene.

My brain is a processor, not a warehouse.

The most common failure among senior professionals is not ignorance, because what they have known is often what got them there; it is cognitive overload.

Ideas are read, insights noted, conversations held, and then they are lost. Not because they lacked value, but because they were not retrievable at the moment of need.

I see my mind as a processor rather than a storage space (except for academic purposes). Capture systems are in place so that thinking stays focused on connection, judgment, and synthesis. I currently have over 1000 notes on my iPhone, and I review them regularly. There are also work diaries, AI meeting summaries, and other records.

Information is collected, organised, distilled, and reused deliberately. It is leverage. Knowledge that cannot be recalled when making decisions is, in my opinion, ornamental.

I rotate methods. I do not pledge allegiance to them.

A productivity culture fosters loyalty, so establish a system and dedicate yourself. The reality of your operations favours you only if you can adapt.

Some weeks benefit from short, intense bursts of focus. Others require long, uninterrupted stretches. Some days begin best with the hardest task. Others need momentum to be built gradually.

The mistake is confusing tools with truths.

Methods depend on the situation; context is key. I adapt my approaches as conditions evolve, without remorse or longing for how I have done things in the past.

Anti-vision is more powerful than aspiration

I am clear about what I do not want. And I try not to lie to myself. The world might see one thing, but the other side of the coin might be different.

Burnout disguised as achievement. Growth that diminishes health. Visibility without real substance. Success that cannot be truly enjoyed. Productivity that destroys meaning. I don’t want any of these things.

This sort of “anti-vision” influences decisions more reliably than a list of goals. It acts as a guiding boundary condition. When a new opportunity clashes with the anti-vision, the solution becomes clearer.

Avoidance is a form of strategy when done consciously.

Strategic invisibility is sometimes required

There are times when I intentionally reduce visibility. Fewer interactions. Less commentary. Narrower inputs.

I’d usually be in a construction phase, not withdrawal. I know there is a lot of written material about withdrawing a bit, and how it’s good for you, etc., etc. Mine isn’t that; it’s construction.

Systems are developed more efficiently away from applause. Foundations thrive in silence. Not every stage of growth requires narration as it unfolds.

Results communicate eventually.

Fundamentals are not optional at scale

I am writing regularly. I am reading deeply. I try to increase my physical activity. I have a sleep therapist I consult regularly who has helped me sleep well. I try to think in long arcs rather than short sprints. I keep reviewing my finances; financial peace of mind is important as it can affect everything else.

None of this is novel. Just that all of it is decisive.

At scale, these fundamentals create optionality. They preserve my cognitive range and enable recovery from error.

Neglecting them can narrow the future.

Family time is scheduled, not residual

Healthy relationships truly thrive when we give them our full attention and care, rather than just leftover energy. By putting genuine time and effort into them, we build stronger, more meaningful connections that enrich our lives.

I make it a point to spend quality time with my family just as I do with work meetings because those moments are truly priceless to me.

My presence or time is the currency I value most nowadays. Structure protects it.

Impact work requires design

Mentorship, community engagement, and social impact are often viewed as informal activities. However, they should not be dismissed as such.

Without a clear structure, acts of generosity can become draining and difficult to sustain.

When proper frameworks are in place, these efforts become sustainable and more impactful. The enduring positive influence is a result of deliberate planning and careful design, ensuring that initiatives are both meaningful and lasting.

My Academic Drive enhances my Operator Excellence

Continuing academic work alongside executive responsibilities is both demanding and enlightening. It enforces discipline, exposes assumptions, refines language, and slows thought just enough to enhance it. I treat study blocks as deep work that is protected, intentional, and not improvised.

After the COVID period, I started seeing a sleep therapist while dashing around West Africa, attempting to revive abandoned supply chains. One day, I realised I was spending hours each night simply trying to fall asleep; not actually sleeping, just trying. I knew those hours could be put to better use.

That realisation led me to think that, since I write articles with such ease, I might also be able to craft manuscripts. I did so for a while, then wondered if I could channel the same focus into a more organised pursuit.

This marked the start of what I call my “Academic Drive.” Over the past few years (and into the next few years), I am intentionally layering key disciplines, like a sandwich, to strengthen my answer to the familiar interview question: “Where do you see yourself in five years?” It took about six months to settle on an answer I felt comfortable with.

Then I began.

Continuing research even after completing the academic pursuit felt natural, and that’s how the manuscripts were born. Much of it was written between midnight and dawn, when the world was asleep, but data remains always awake.

Chronic insomnia put to productive use I guess. My Academic Drive is coming together, slowly and deliberately. More on that later.

Side quests are maintenance, not indulgence

Curiosity, hobbies, and exploration are often considered distractions. However, in my experience, they serve as essential renewal mechanisms.

They foster creativity and broaden perspective, helping to prevent professional identity from becoming overly narrow or rigid.

Far from being optional extras, these activities are vital for maintaining a balanced and vibrant sense of self in both personal and professional life.

The system is the combination

None of these tools works meaningfully in isolation. Their true power emerges from their interaction.

Time blocking safeguards priorities; compression refines execution; knowledge systems retain insights; flow facilitates depth; anti-vision sustains direction. When integrated, they create a cohesive, dynamic system that adapts to changing needs, fostering resilience and continuous growth.

This year, I really want to do more. I don’t want to do things in a rush or louder, but with intention and care.

The goal for now is not to produce the most, but to maintain clear and steady progress in the areas I have chosen that truly matter.

If you’re looking to replicate this model of models, remember, tools alone don’t build discipline; rather, they illuminate where discipline is needed. When we use discipline thoughtfully, it can open up exciting possibilities for a truly fulfilling life.

Thank you for reading. I welcome your reflections, questions, and suggestions for future topics. Subscribe to the Entrepreneur In You newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/d-hgCVPy, follow me on all social platforms at @thisisthemax, or get weekly updates via my official WhatsApp channel: www.bit.ly/whatsappthemax.

Wishing you a purposeful and successful week ahead!

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The author, Dr. Maxwell Ampong, serves as the CEO of Maxwell Investments Group. He is also an Honorary Curator at the Ghana National Museum and the Official Business Advisor with Ghana’s largest agricultural trade union under Ghana’s Trade Union Congress (TUC). Founder of WellMax Inclusive Insurance and WellMax Micro-Credit Enterprise, Dr. Ampong writes on relevant economic topics and provides general perspective pieces. ‘Entrepreneur In You’ operates under the auspices of the Africa School of Entrepreneurship, an initiative of Maxwell Investments Group.

Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, Dr. Maxwell Ampong, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or beliefs of Maxwell Investments Group or any of its affiliates. Any references to policy or regulation reflect the author’s interpretation and are not intended to represent the formal stance of Maxwell Investments Group. This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. Readers should seek independent advice before making any decisions based on this material. Maxwell Investments Group assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content or for any actions taken based on the information provided.

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