Work Life Balance in Twenties

No, you shouldn’t care too much about work-life balance in your mid-twenties, because you can afford not to. Use this time to take risks, since you have fewer responsibilities, more energy, and have nothing better to do with your time than to learn your craft or find your calling.

If you’re smart, you’d want to play and win at the long game. Being uncomfortable in your twenties will allow you the luxury of having a true and comfortable work-life balance in your thirties and beyond. Use the energy and youth of your twenties to develop important and valuable skills. People will also cut you more slack when you’re younger, so use that period to make mistakes and to learn.

In the process of working your ass of in your twenties you will also understand yourself and your priorities better. You will build your own value, self-confidence, life skills, your work ethic and habits in this period. I was in a PhD program from 22–26, and I often worked all night, weekends etc when needed. I was young, so I could recover easily from these stressful events. I had more energy. I’ll be 28 next month, and an all-nighter today takes a lot more out of me and recovery also takes more time. Use your youth wisely.

If you do all this in your twenties, then you can then finally make good use of your work-life balance in your thirties and beyond. You would know yourself better by then, have a great social circle, be financially comfortable, and be wise enough to use the downtime optimally. In other words, a bit of pain in your twenties will pay itself back many times over throughout the rest of the course of your life

-Karan Mehta, Laser Designer, PhD in ECE,