Setting parameters is something that everyone knows they should do, but few do successfully. As adults, we are told to set boundaries between work and personal life. If you are too invested in your job, there is an assumption that you are not spending enough time with your family, and vice versa. Work/life balance has always been an issue and it continues to affect us as technological advances make it easier and easier to take work home with us.

I have a complicated relationship with my work/life balance right now because I am doing a job that far surpasses the normal time commitment of the traditional 9:00-5:00. This job keeps me late into the evenings and often brings me in on the weekends as well. I can justify this because right now I do not have a family. Many of my co-workers have children and have to make difficult decisions about how to manage work/life balance in a demanding work environment.

I once heard someone describing work/life balance in three buckets. You have your work bucket, your family bucket, and your recreational bucket. You only have so much to give and you decide how much you put into each bucket. Working in a fulfilling job allows your work and recreation bucket to be one and the same. Eliminating the third bucket helps make sure that you are giving time to the most important bucket - your family.

In the startup world, there is the “work hard, play hard” office culture. The expectations are high, but when you finally make it to the break, it is that much more satisfying. Doing work that is able to fill both the work and recreation bucket for you is important because you are not dividing your time between three demands. Loving your job and loving what you are doing is truly a gift that few people achieve early on in their career. Making it to that point erases many of the needs to set parameters because you are willing to do so much more for a job that you love as opposed to a soul-crushing job that pays the bills.

My advice to young professionals entering the workforce would be to understand when you should set parameters, and when it is worth it to put in the extra time to do a job well. Don’t ever let yourself be taken advantage of, but realize that sometimes life demands a little extra to further your career.

-          Bria