Housework is an unavoidable, time-consuming labour-intensive reality of adulthood. Whether you own your own home or rent, live alone, with friends, strangers or family members, the house-keeping tasks that make a house a home need doing. The part that home-making plays in a person’s work-life balance varies from person to person. The subject of “domesticity” doesn’t always come up when I interview people about how they balance their work with everything else in their life. For some,...

The tiresome chores required to maintain a house and sustain the lives within it are more than the sum of their parts. They create a home, and a safe and comfortable haven, both for individuals and for raising a family. Do they, therefore, fall under the “work” or “home” sides of the work-life balance equation?They certainly often feel like work. Hard work. Yet, they’re unpaid and occupy the time spent when not “at work”. This podcast episode, features the writer and “home worker” Helen...

What did you learn from your parents about the way they worked when you were growing up? Did their work-life balance approach inspire you to follow in their footsteps? Or did it have the opposite effect and encourage you to do things differently? In turn as a parent yourself, how do you think the values you place on your work are internalised by your children? Does it matter? In this short Work, Life Balance Lesson segment I try to unpack this knotty subject of parent-child dynamic through...

My guest this episode is Rami Madbouli, who, at the time of this podcast recording, was working as a Private Secretary to Ministers in the UK Government’s Department of Health & Social Care. Rami’s 90:10 work:life ratio is the highest figure weighting on the work side that has featured on ‘A Fine Balance’. And whilst this is a work-life balance that – on the whole – works well for Rami, he says that he usually finds that it's met with disapproval. That Rami applies a 90:10 figure on...

I have learned so much from all the interviews I’ve conducted since launching my blog in 2020 – asking people from all walks of life about the choices they make when balancing work with everything else. Over time I’ve gathered many examples of actions that people have taken to find their balance. I’ve also noticed common themes emerging from them. So I’ve decided to introduce some short bitesize podcast episodes to showcase and reflect on some of these lessons, which I hope listeners will...

My guest this episode is my good friend and neighbour, Bettina Jacobs. Bettina works as both a photography teacher and a freelance photographer. Married with three children, there’s already a lot on her plate before taking into account her charity work, extended family commitments and a busy home and social life. In this episode of ‘A Fine Balance – The Podcast’, Bettina describes how developing her passion into a side hustle has afforded her a sense of balance that was previously not in...

Do you ever feel like you’re dragging your heels in getting started with something?Does your to-do list stare back at you as a reminder of all the things that you need to get done but haven’t made time for yet? And does that in turn create a sense of overwhelm, which skews your sense of work-life balance? If so, this podcast episode could be just what you need to help get yourself on track to finding your balance in 2024. My guest this episode is the wellness business mentor, self-belief...

Season 3 of ‘A Fine Balance - The Podcast’ will be coming out soon. Listen here for what to expect from future episodes. For more information, go to www.a-fine-balance.com/podcast and for updates, you can follow @afinebalance_blog on Facebook or Instagram.

In this special bonus episode, which is both the final episode of 2023 and the final episode of Season 2 of ‘A Fine Balance - The Podcast’, I look back on all the conversations I’ve hosted on the podcast this year. We dip into each 2023 podcast interview, and play back an extract from my conversations with guests about how they balance work with everything else in life. Also included is an short audio clip from an event I took part in this year with parenting expert and author Anita Cleare...

This episode features former blog guest Sam Franklin, a father of two who works part-time as Head of Innovation Consulting in a global tech corporation. I published a write-up of my interview with Sam on International Men’s Day 2020, which felt fitting given that his take on work-life balance centred on empowering men to take ownership of how they choose to spend their time, both in and outside work. A vital part of that, he argued, was championing the role that men play in creating true...

On 7th October 2023, the world woke up to horrific news of a terrorist attack in Israel. The trauma of this attack, and the war that has ensued, is far-reaching and multifaceted. And, as I write, it is still so raw and unfolding. With the help of my friend, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, Dr Ian Moran, I have hastily pulled together an "emergency" podcast episode, to host a conversation about navigating the thorny question of how to find balance when you’re living through war....

This episode, which was recorded during Pride month, features the investigative journalist, author, and equal parenting advocate, Paul Morgan-Bentley. During our conversation, Paul shares his experience of coming out and we discuss what impacted his sense of balance during those formative years. Having reluctantly resigned himself to accept that as a gay man, fatherhood was a closed door for him, Paul’s life changed when he and his husband discovered that surrogacy was an option. “I...

In this episode, Laura shares the story of her decision to leave the teaching profession in order to regain some balance in her life. She describes the difficulties she encountered in finding balance as a teacher, and how the mounting workload, and the pressure - both in and outside of work - pushed her to a breaking point. And she touches on some of the tools that she applied to recognise and recover from burning out. Laura also talks about her experience of falling pregnant in her teens,...

I'm delighted to introduce my guest of this podcast episode, Ruth Todd CBE. Ruth's career has been full of managing complex infrastructure and change projects for a string of blue-chip companies, often under public scrutiny. Formerly Programme Director of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, Ruth now works as Chief Commercial Officer of the largest infrastructure project in Europe: a new high speed rail line being built in the United Kingdom called HS2. She is also married with two children, and has...

Gilles Dahan, a former banker and head of global trading, left the finance industry in 2019, and now works as a consultant and entrepreneur. Gilles has always thrived on working hard. Growing up, he was taught that “work is everything”. As a working adult, his career has been the source of his greatest fulfilment. And his “work” has consistently and purposefully dominated his work-life balance. Nonetheless, married with three children, Gilles regards himself as a family man through and...

Katie started her career as a vet, yet her experience of burnout on account of her pursuit of perfection led her down another path. She now describes herself as: speaker, imposter syndrome buster, vet entrepreneur. She’s also an author, by the way, and a few other things alongside that too. As an expert at “busting” imposter syndrome, and mastering personal narratives, in this episode, Katie shares a wealth of knowledge and academically-grounded insights and references, which I’m sure...

In this episode, Amanda describes what it’s like to balance working as a musician with everything else in her life, especially her creative pursuits. She talks about the punishing self-discipline typical of musicians, and how she reconciles her inclination to spend her time construtively, with not being “career-oriented”. Amanda touches on the deliberate approach that she and her husband, who one day wish to have children, have taken to set the foundations for the work-life balance they...

Season Two of ‘A Fine Balance - The Podcast’ is launching soon. Listen here to find out what to expect and be sure to subscribe so you know when Episode One is ready to drop.

Tom McLaughlan, a retired Government Relations Advisor, who now works voluntarily for a crisis intervention charity, first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The Blog’ in August 2021. In this episode, we discuss in more depth Tom’s work-life balance choices - both today in retirement, and looking back at when he was in the height of his career. His emotive and honest reflections leave much food for thought about the opportunities and challenges of balancing priorities during these two life stages:...

In this bonus episode, which differs to this podcast’s usual format, Annabel Jeffcoate, coach and founder of ‘Balance for Teachers’ provides her professional advice on how to improve your work-life balance in 5 steps. She also goes into detail about the strategy that she has devised using the word BALANCE as an acronym. In this episode, Annabel shares her story about losing balance early on in her career, which resulted in a severe case of burnout, explaining how she has drawn from her own...

This is a follow-up interview with Laurie Macpherson, who first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The Blog’ in July 2021. https://a-fine-balance.com/2021/07/04/finding-balance-on-her-own-terms-single-by-choice-childfree-by-choice-lauries-story-on-doing-what-suits-you/. Laurie is a career coach and mentor who owns her own business, The Grow Consultancy, advising people on career choices and job applications. Before becoming self-employed, Laurie worked for many years in the retail sector and also...

Follow-up interview with Sarah Macmull, who was first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The. Blog’ in October 2020: https://a-fine-balance.com/2020/10/14/sarahs-story-motherhood-and-the-mental-load-marriage-self-employment-and-primary-care-giving/. It’s rare to hear a feminist extolling the virtues of home-keeping alongside career drive. And it’s equally unusual for the story of a mother building her career around her family to be told in of itself. Sarah’s story does both of these things,...

Blogger Michelle Green, of ‘Fifty & Fab’ notoriety, discusses my latest blog post, “‘Stay at home, Mum’: Nadine’s Story on finding balance as a stay-at-home-mum, opting out of a career path & valuing a mother’s presence”. To read more go to: https://a-fine-balance.com/2021/11/16/stay-at-home-mum-nadines-story-on-opting-out-of-a-career-path-valuing-a-mothers-presence/. Check out Michelle’s blog, ‘Fifty & Fab’, at www.fiftyandfab.co.uk.

Follow-up interview with Tahmid Chowdhury, who was first featured on the blog ‘A Fine Balance’ in October 2020: https://a-fine-balance.com/2020/10/02/work-life-balance-profile-4-tahmid-chowdhury/. Early in his career, Tahmid realised that he was on the verge of ‘burning out’ and he took some drastic measures to change his lifestyle and mindset to improve his situation. Burnout is something that has come up again and again in the interviews I conduct for my blog and is usually an indicator of...